Touch screen sensor controller with drive sense circuits

ABSTRACT

A touch screen display includes a display, a video graphics processing module, electrodes integrated into at least a portion of the display, and drive-sense circuits coupled to the electrodes. The drive-sense circuits, when enabled and concurrent with the display rendering frames of data into the visible images, detect changes in electrical characteristics of electrodes. At least some drive-sense circuits monitor sensor signals on at least some electrodes. A sensor signal includes a drive signal component and a receive signal component. The at least some drive-sense circuits generate the drive signal components of the sensor signals. The receive signal component is a representation of a change in an electrical characteristic of an electrode of the at least some electrodes when a corresponding drive signal component is applied to the electrode. The change in the electrical characteristic of the electrode is indicative of a proximal touch to the touch screen display.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No.17/248,473, entitled “LARGE TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY WITH INTEGRATEDELECTRODES,” filed Jan. 26, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 16/132,131, entitled “LARGE TOUCH SCREENDISPLAY WITH INTEGRATED ELECTRODES,” filed Sep. 14, 2018, issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,908,718 on Feb. 2, 2021, all of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of thepresent U.S. Utility patent application for all purposes.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to data communication systems and moreparticularly to sensed data collection and/or communication.

Description of Related Art

Sensors are used in a wide variety of applications ranging from in-homeautomation, to industrial systems, to health care, to transportation,and so on. For example, sensors are placed in bodies, automobiles,airplanes, boats, ships, trucks, motorcycles, cell phones, televisions,touch-screens, industrial plants, appliances, motors, checkout counters,etc. for the variety of applications.

In general, a sensor converts a physical quantity into an electrical oroptical signal. For example, a sensor converts a physical phenomenon,such as a biological condition, a chemical condition, an electriccondition, an electromagnetic condition, a temperature, a magneticcondition, mechanical motion (position, velocity, acceleration, force,pressure), an optical condition, and/or a radioactivity condition, intoan electrical signal.

A sensor includes a transducer, which functions to convert one form ofenergy (e.g., force) into another form of energy (e.g., electricalsignal). There are a variety of transducers to support the variousapplications of sensors. For example, a transducer is capacitor, apiezoelectric transducer, a piezoresistive transducer, a thermaltransducer, a thermal-couple, a photoconductive transducer such as aphotoresistor, a photodiode, and/or phototransistor.

A sensor circuit is coupled to a sensor to provide the sensor with powerand to receive the signal representing the physical phenomenon from thesensor. The sensor circuit includes at least three electricalconnections to the sensor: one for a power supply; another for a commonvoltage reference (e.g., ground); and a third for receiving the signalrepresenting the physical phenomenon. The signal representing thephysical phenomenon will vary from the power supply voltage to ground asthe physical phenomenon changes from one extreme to another (for therange of sensing the physical phenomenon).

The sensor circuits provide the received sensor signals to one or morecomputing devices for processing. A computing device is known tocommunicate data, process data, and/or store data. The computing devicemay be a cellular phone, a laptop, a tablet, a personal computer (PC), awork station, a video game device, a server, and/or a data center thatsupport millions of web searches, stock trades, or on-line purchasesevery hour.

The computing device processes the sensor signals for a variety ofapplications. For example, the computing device processes sensor signalsto determine temperatures of a variety of items in a refrigerated truckduring transit. As another example, the computing device processes thesensor signals to determine a touch on a touch screen. As yet anotherexample, the computing device processes the sensor signals to determinevarious data points in a production line of a product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computingdevice in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a computingdevice in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a touch screendisplay in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a touchscreen display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for sensing atouch on a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a drive sensecircuit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a drivesense circuit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9A is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of atouch screen display with in-cell touch sensors in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 9B is a schematic block diagram of an example of a transparentelectrode layer with thin film transistors in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 9C is a schematic block diagram of an example of a pixel with threesub-pixels in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9D is a schematic block diagram of another example of a pixel withthree sub-pixels in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9E is a schematic block diagram of an example of sub-pixelelectrodes coupled together to form row electrodes of a touch screensensor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9F is a schematic block diagram of an example of sub-pixelelectrodes coupled together to form column electrodes of a touch screensensor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9G is a schematic block diagram of an example of sub-pixelelectrodes coupled together to form row electrodes and column electrodesof a touch screen sensor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9H is a schematic block diagram of an example of a segmented commonground plane forming row electrodes and column electrodes of a touchscreen sensor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9I is a schematic block diagram of another example of sub-pixelelectrodes coupled together to form row and column electrodes of a touchscreen sensor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9J is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of atouch screen display with on-cell touch sensors in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 10A is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example ofself-capacitance with no-touch on a touch screen display in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 10B is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example ofself-capacitance with a touch on a touch screen display in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example ofself-capacitance and mutual capacitance with no-touch on a touch screendisplay in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example ofself-capacitance and mutual capacitance with a touch on a touch screendisplay in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an example graph that plots condition verses capacitance foran electrode of a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 is an example graph that plots impedance verses frequency for anelectrode of a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 15 is a time domain example graph that plots magnitude verses timefor an analog reference signal in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a frequency domain example graph that plots magnitude versesfrequency for an analog reference signal in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit coupled to a first electrode and a second drive sensecircuit coupled to a second electrode without a touch proximal to theelectrodes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit coupled to a first electrode and a second drive sensecircuit coupled to a second electrode with a finger touch proximal tothe electrodes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit coupled to a first electrode and a second drive sensecircuit coupled to a second electrode with a pen touch proximal to theelectrodes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a first drivesense circuit coupled to a first electrode and a second drive sensecircuit coupled to a second electrode with a pen touch proximal to theelectrodes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a touchscreen display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a touchless example of a fewdrive sense circuits and a portion of the touch screen processing moduleof a touch screen display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a finger touch example of a fewdrive sense circuits and a portion of the touch screen processing moduleof a touch screen display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic block diagram of a pen touch example of a fewdrive sense circuits and a portion of the touch screen processing moduleof a touch screen display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computingdevice having touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acomputing device having touch screen display in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acomputing device having touch screen display in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 28 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a first drivesense circuit coupled to a first electrode and a second drive sensecircuit coupled to a second electrode without a touch proximal to theelectrodes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a computing devicegenerating a capacitive image of a touch screen display in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a computingdevice generating a capacitive image of a touch screen display inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for generating acapacitive image of a touch screen display in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 32 is a schematic block diagram of an example of generatingcapacitive images over a time period in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 33 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for identifyingdesired and undesired touches using a capacitive image in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a schematic block diagram of an example of using capacitiveimages to identify desired and undesired touches in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 35 is a schematic block diagram of another example of usingcapacitive images to identify desired and undesired touches inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 36 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a nearbezel-less touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 37 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a nearbezel-less touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 38 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of touch screencircuitry of a near bezel-less touch screen display in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 39 is a schematic block diagram of an example of frequencies forthe various analog reference signals for the drive-sense circuits inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 40 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a nearbezel-less touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 41 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of multiplenear bezel-less touch screen displays in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 42 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of processingmodules for the multiple near bezel-less touch screen displays of FIG.41 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 43 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of atouch screen display having a thick protective transparent layer inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 44 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another example ofa touch screen display having a thick protective transparent layer inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 45 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical equivalent circuitof two drive sense circuits coupled to two electrodes without a fingertouch in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 46 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical equivalent circuitof two drive sense circuits coupled to two electrodes with a fingertouch in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 47 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical equivalent circuitof a drive sense circuit coupled to an electrode without a finger touchin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 48 is an example graph that plots finger capacitance versesprotective layer thickness of a touch screen display in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 49 is an example graph that plots mutual capacitance versesprotective layer thickness and drive voltage verses protective layerthickness of a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 50 is an example graph that plots self-capacitance versesprotective layer thickness and drive voltage verses protective layerthickness of a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 51 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another example ofa touch screen display having a thick protective transparent layer inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 52 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a large touchscreen display with an on-screen control panel in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 53 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a largetouch screen display with an on-screen control panel in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 54 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a plurality ofelectrodes creating a plurality of touch sense cells in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 55 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of aplurality of electrodes creating a display area and a control panel areain accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 56 is a schematic block diagram of an example of activating ordeactivating an on-screen control panel on a large touch screen displayin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 57 is a logic diagram of an example of utilizing an on-screencontrol panel of a large touch screen display in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 58 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a scalabletouch screen display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 59 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of asense-processing circuit of a scalable touch screen display inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 60 is a schematic block diagram of an example of frequency dividingfor reference signals for drive-sense circuits of a touch screen displayin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 61 is a schematic block diagram of an example of bandpass filteringfor the frequency dividing of the reference signals for drive-sensecircuits of a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 62 is a schematic block diagram of another example of bandpassfiltering for the frequency dividing of the reference signals fordrive-sense circuits of a touch screen display in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 63 is a schematic block diagram of an example of frequency and timedividing for reference signals for drive-sense circuits of a touchscreen display in accordance with the present invention; and

FIGS. 64A and 64B are a schematic block diagram of another example offrequency and time dividing for reference signals for drive-sensecircuits of a touch screen display in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem 10 that includes a plurality of computing. devices 12-10, one ormore servers 22, one or more databases 24, one or more networks 26, aplurality of drive-sense circuits 28, a plurality of sensors 30, and aplurality of actuators 32. Computing devices 14 include a touch screen16 with sensors and drive-sensor circuits and computing devices 18include a touch & tactic screen 20 that includes sensors, actuators, anddrive-sense circuits.

A sensor 30 functions to convert a physical input into an electricaloutput and/or an optical output. The physical input of a sensor may beone of a variety of physical input conditions. For example, the physicalcondition includes one or more of, but is not limited to, acoustic waves(e.g., amplitude, phase, polarization, spectrum, and/or wave velocity);a biological and/or chemical condition (e.g., fluid concentration,level, composition, etc.); an electric condition (e.g., charge, voltage,current, conductivity, permittivity, eclectic field, which includesamplitude, phase, and/or polarization); a magnetic condition (e.g.,flux, permeability, magnetic field, which amplitude, phase, and/orpolarization); an optical condition (e.g., refractive index,reflectivity, absorption, etc.); a thermal condition (e.g., temperature,flux, specific heat, thermal conductivity, etc.); and a mechanicalcondition (e.g., position, velocity, acceleration, force, strain,stress, pressure, torque, etc.). For example, piezoelectric sensorconverts force or pressure into an eclectic signal. As another example,a microphone converts audible acoustic waves into electrical signals.

There are a variety of types of sensors to sense the various types ofphysical conditions. Sensor types include, but are not limited to,capacitor sensors, inductive sensors, accelerometers, piezoelectricsensors, light sensors, magnetic field sensors, ultrasonic sensors,temperature sensors, infrared (IR) sensors, touch sensors, proximitysensors, pressure sensors, level sensors, smoke sensors, and gassensors. In many ways, sensors function as the interface between thephysical world and the digital world by converting real world conditionsinto digital signals that are then processed by computing devices for avast number of applications including, but not limited to, medicalapplications, production automation applications, home environmentcontrol, public safety, and so on.

The various types of sensors have a variety of sensor characteristicsthat are factors in providing power to the sensors, receiving signalsfrom the sensors, and/or interpreting the signals from the sensors. Thesensor characteristics include resistance, reactance, powerrequirements, sensitivity, range, stability, repeatability, linearity,error, response time, and/or frequency response. For example, theresistance, reactance, and/or power requirements are factors indetermining drive circuit requirements. As another example, sensitivity,stability, and/or linear are factors for interpreting the measure of thephysical condition based on the received electrical and/or opticalsignal (e.g., measure of temperature, pressure, etc.).

An actuator 32 converts an electrical input into a physical output. Thephysical output of an actuator may be one of a variety of physicaloutput conditions. For example, the physical output condition includesone or more of, but is not limited to, acoustic waves (e.g., amplitude,phase, polarization, spectrum, and/or wave velocity); a magneticcondition (e.g., flux, permeability, magnetic field, which amplitude,phase, and/or polarization); a thermal condition (e.g., temperature,flux, specific heat, thermal conductivity, etc.); and a mechanicalcondition (e.g., position, velocity, acceleration, force, strain,stress, pressure, torque, etc.). As an example, a piezoelectric actuatorconverts voltage into force or pressure. As another example, a speakerconverts electrical signals into audible acoustic waves.

An actuator 32 may be one of a variety of actuators. For example, anactuator 32 is one of a comb drive, a digital micro-mirror device, anelectric motor, an electroactive polymer, a hydraulic cylinder, apiezoelectric actuator, a pneumatic actuator, a screw jack, aservomechanism, a solenoid, a stepper motor, a shape-memory allow, athermal bimorph, and a hydraulic actuator.

The various types of actuators have a variety of actuatorscharacteristics that are factors in providing power to the actuator andsending signals to the actuators for desired performance. The actuatorcharacteristics include resistance, reactance, power requirements,sensitivity, range, stability, repeatability, linearity, error, responsetime, and/or frequency response. For example, the resistance, reactance,and power requirements are factors in determining drive circuitrequirements. As another example, sensitivity, stability, and/or linearare factors for generating the signaling to send to the actuator toobtain the desired physical output condition.

The computing devices 12, 14, and 18 may each be a portable computingdevice and/or a fixed computing device. A portable computing device maybe a social networking device, a gaming device, a cell phone, a smartphone, a digital assistant, a digital music player, a digital videoplayer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet, a video gamecontroller, and/or any other portable device that includes a computingcore. A fixed computing device may be a computer (PC), a computerserver, a cable set-top box, a satellite receiver, a television set, aprinter, a fax machine, home entertainment equipment, a video gameconsole, and/or any type of home or office computing equipment. Thecomputing devices 12, 14, and 18 will be discussed in greater detailwith reference to one or more of FIGS. 2-4 .

A server 22 is a special type of computing device that is optimized forprocessing large amounts of data requests in parallel. A server 22includes similar components to that of the computing devices 12, 14,and/or 18 with more robust processing modules, more main memory, and/ormore hard drive memory (e.g., solid state, hard drives, etc.). Further,a server 22 is typically accessed remotely; as such it does notgenerally include user input devices and/or user output devices. Inaddition, a server may be a standalone separate computing device and/ormay be a cloud computing device.

A database 24 is a special type of computing device that is optimizedfor large scale data storage and retrieval. A database 24 includessimilar components to that of the computing devices 12, 14, and/or 18with more hard drive memory (e.g., solid state, hard drives, etc.) andpotentially with more processing modules and/or main memory. Further, adatabase 24 is typically accessed remotely; as such it does notgenerally include user input devices and/or user output devices. Inaddition, a database 24 may be a standalone separate computing deviceand/or may be a cloud computing device.

The network 26 includes one more local area networks (LAN) and/or one ormore wide area networks WAN), which may be a public network and/or aprivate network. A LAN may be a wireless-LAN (e.g., Wi-Fi access point,Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc.) and/or a wired network (e.g., Firewire,Ethernet, etc.). A WAN may be a wired and/or wireless WAN. For example,a LAN may be a personal home or business's wireless network and a WAN isthe Internet, cellular telephone infrastructure, and/or satellitecommunication infrastructure.

In an example of operation, computing device 12-1 communicates with aplurality of drive-sense circuits 28, which, in turn, communicate with aplurality of sensors 30. The sensors 30 and/or the drive-sense circuits28 are within the computing device 12-1 and/or external to it. Forexample, the sensors 30 may be external to the computing device 12-1 andthe drive-sense circuits are within the computing device 12-1. Asanother example, both the sensors 30 and the drive-sense circuits 28 areexternal to the computing device 12-1. When the drive-sense circuits 28are external to the computing device, they are coupled to the computingdevice 12-1 via wired and/or wireless communication links as will bediscussed in greater detail with reference to one or more of FIGS.5A-5C.

The computing device 12-1 communicates with the drive-sense circuits 28to; (a) turn them on, (b) obtain data from the sensors (individuallyand/or collectively), (c) instruct the drive sense circuit on how tocommunicate the sensed data to the computing device 12-1, (d) providesignaling attributes (e.g., DC level, AC level, frequency, power level,regulated current signal, regulated voltage signal, regulation of animpedance, frequency patterns for various sensors, different frequenciesfor different sensing applications, etc.) to use with the sensors,and/or (e) provide other commands and/or instructions.

As a specific example, the sensors 30 are distributed along a pipelineto measure flow rate and/or pressure within a section of the pipeline.The drive-sense circuits 28 have their own power source (e.g., battery,power supply, etc.) and are proximally located to their respectivesensors 30. At desired time intervals (milliseconds, seconds, minutes,hours, etc.), the drive-sense circuits 28 provide a regulated sourcesignal or a power signal to the sensors 30. An electrical characteristicof the sensor 30 affects the regulated source signal or power signal,which is reflective of the condition (e.g., the flow rate and/or thepressure) that sensor is sensing.

The drive-sense circuits 28 detect the effects on the regulated sourcesignal or power signals as a result of the electrical characteristics ofthe sensors. The drive-sense circuits 28 then generate signalsrepresentative of change to the regulated source signal or power signalbased on the detected effects on the power signals. The changes to theregulated source signals or power signals are representative of theconditions being sensed by the sensors 30.

The drive-sense circuits 28 provide the representative signals of theconditions to the computing device 12-1. A representative signal may bean analog signal or a digital signal. In either case, the computingdevice 12-1 interprets the representative signals to determine thepressure and/or flow rate at each sensor location along the pipeline.The computing device may then provide this information to the server 22,the database 24, and/or to another computing device for storing and/orfurther processing.

As another example of operation, computing device 12-2 is coupled to adrive-sense circuit 28, which is, in turn, coupled to a senor 30. Thesensor 30 and/or the drive-sense circuit 28 may be internal and/orexternal to the computing device 12-2. In this example, the sensor 30 issensing a condition that is particular to the computing device 12-2. Forexample, the sensor 30 may be a temperature sensor, an ambient lightsensor, an ambient noise sensor, etc. As described above, wheninstructed by the computing device 12-2 (which may be a default settingfor continuous sensing or at regular intervals), the drive-sense circuit28 provides the regulated source signal or power signal to the sensor 30and detects an effect to the regulated source signal or power signalbased on an electrical characteristic of the sensor. The drive-sensecircuit generates a representative signal of the affect and sends it tothe computing device 12-2.

In another example of operation, computing device 12-3 is coupled to aplurality of drive-sense circuits 28 that are coupled to a plurality ofsensors 30 and is coupled to a plurality of drive-sense circuits 28 thatare coupled to a plurality of actuators 32. The generally functionalityof the drive-sense circuits 28 coupled to the sensors 30 in accordancewith the above description.

Since an actuator 32 is essentially an inverse of a sensor in that anactuator converts an electrical signal into a physical condition, whilea sensor converts a physical condition into an electrical signal, thedrive-sense circuits 28 can be used to power actuators 32. Thus, in thisexample, the computing device 12-3 provides actuation signals to thedrive-sense circuits 28 for the actuators 32. The drive-sense circuitsmodulate the actuation signals on to power signals or regulated controlsignals, which are provided to the actuators 32. The actuators 32 arepowered from the power signals or regulated control signals and producethe desired physical condition from the modulated actuation signals.

As another example of operation, computing device 12-x is coupled to adrive-sense circuit 28 that is coupled to a sensor 30 and is coupled toa drive-sense circuit 28 that is coupled to an actuator 32. In thisexample, the sensor 30 and the actuator 32 are for use by the computingdevice 12-x. For example, the sensor 30 may be a piezoelectricmicrophone and the actuator 32 may be a piezoelectric speaker.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computingdevice 12 (e.g., any one of 12-1 through 12-x). The computing device 12includes a touch screen 16, a core control module 40, one or moreprocessing modules 42, one or more main memories 44, cache memory 46, avideo graphics processing module 48, a display 50, an Input-Output (I/O)peripheral control module 52, one or more input interface modules 56,one or more output interface modules 58, one or more network interfacemodules 60, and one or more memory interface modules 62. A processingmodule 42 is described in greater detail at the end of the detaileddescription of the invention section and, in an alternative embodiment,has a direction connection to the main memory 44. In an alternateembodiment, the core control module 40 and the I/O and/or peripheralcontrol module 52 are one module, such as a chipset, a quick pathinterconnect (QPI), and/or an ultra-path interconnect (UPI).

The touch screen 16 includes a touch screen display 80, a plurality ofsensors 30, a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSC), and a touchscreen processing module 82. In general, the sensors (e.g., electrodes,capacitor sensing cells, capacitor sensors, inductive sensor, etc.)detect a proximal touch of the screen. For example, when one or morefingers touches the screen, capacitance of sensors proximal to thetouch(es) are affected (e.g., impedance changes). The drive-sensecircuits (DSC) coupled to the affected sensors detect the change andprovide a representation of the change to the touch screen processingmodule 82, which may be a separate processing module or integrated intothe processing module 42.

The touch screen processing module 82 processes the representativesignals from the drive-sense circuits (DSC) to determine the location ofthe touch(es). This information is inputted to the processing module 42for processing as an input. For example, a touch represents a selectionof a button on screen, a scroll function, a zoom in-out function, etc.

Each of the main memories 44 includes one or more Random Access Memory(RAM) integrated circuits, or chips. For example, a main memory 44includes four DDR4 (4^(th) generation of double data rate) RAM chips,each running at a rate of 2,400 MHz. In general, the main memory 44stores data and operational instructions most relevant for theprocessing module 42. For example, the core control module 40coordinates the transfer of data and/or operational instructions fromthe main memory 44 and the memory 64-66. The data and/or operationalinstructions retrieve from memory 64-66 are the data and/or operationalinstructions requested by the processing module or will most likely beneeded by the processing module. When the processing module is done withthe data and/or operational instructions in main memory, the corecontrol module 40 coordinates sending updated data to the memory 64-66for storage.

The memory 64-66 includes one or more hard drives, one or more solidstate memory chips, and/or one or more other large capacity storagedevices that, in comparison to cache memory and main memory devices,is/are relatively inexpensive with respect to cost per amount of datastored. The memory 64-66 is coupled to the core control module 40 viathe I/O and/or peripheral control module 52 and via one or more memoryinterface modules 62. In an embodiment, the I/O and/or peripheralcontrol module 52 includes one or more Peripheral Component Interface(PCI) buses to which peripheral components connect to the core controlmodule 40. A memory interface module 62 includes a software driver and ahardware connector for coupling a memory device to the I/O and/orperipheral control module 52. For example, a memory interface 62 is inaccordance with a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) port.

The core control module 40 coordinates data communications between theprocessing module(s) 42 and the network(s) 26 via the I/O and/orperipheral control module 52, the network interface module(s) 60, and anetwork card 68 or 70. A network card 68 or 70 includes a wirelesscommunication unit or a wired communication unit. A wirelesscommunication unit includes a wireless local area network (WLAN)communication device, a cellular communication device, a Bluetoothdevice, and/or a ZigBee communication device. A wired communication unitincludes a Gigabit LAN connection, a Firewire connection, and/or aproprietary computer wired connection. A network interface module 60includes a software driver and a hardware connector for coupling thenetwork card to the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. Forexample, the network interface module 60 is in accordance with one ormore versions of IEEE 802.11, cellular telephone protocols, 10/100/1000Gigabit LAN protocols, etc.

The core control module 40 coordinates data communications between theprocessing module(s) 42 and input device(s) 72 via the input interfacemodule(s) 56 and the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. An inputdevice 72 includes a keypad, a keyboard, control switches, a touchpad, amicrophone, a camera, etc. An input interface module 56 includes asoftware driver and a hardware connector for coupling an input device tothe I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. In an embodiment, an inputinterface module 56 is in accordance with one or more Universal SerialBus (USB) protocols.

The core control module 40 coordinates data communications between theprocessing module(s) 42 and output device(s) 74 via the output interfacemodule(s) 58 and the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. An outputdevice 74 includes a speaker, etc. An output interface module 58includes a software driver and a hardware connector for coupling anoutput device to the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. In anembodiment, an output interface module 56 is in accordance with one ormore audio codec protocols.

The processing module 42 communicates directly with a video graphicsprocessing module 48 to display data on the display 50. The display 50includes an LED (light emitting diode) display, an LCD (liquid crystaldisplay), and/or other type of display technology. The display has aresolution, an aspect ratio, and other features that affect the qualityof the display. The video graphics processing module 48 receives datafrom the processing module 42, processes the data to produce rendereddata in accordance with the characteristics of the display, and providesthe rendered data to the display 50.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a computingdevice 18 that includes a core control module 40, one or more processingmodules 42, one or more main memories 44, cache memory 46, a videographics processing module 48, a touch and tactile screen 20, anInput-Output (I/O) peripheral control module 52, one or more inputinterface modules 56, one or more output interface modules 58, one ormore network interface modules 60, and one or more memory interfacemodules 62. The touch and tactile screen 20 includes a touch and tactilescreen display 90, a plurality of sensors 30, a plurality of actuators32, a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSC), a touch screen processingmodule 82, and a tactile screen processing module 92.

Computing device 18 operates similarly to computing device 14 of FIG. 2with the addition of a tactile aspect to the screen 20 as an outputdevice. The tactile portion of the screen 20 includes the plurality ofactuators (e.g., piezoelectric transducers to create vibrations,solenoids to create movement, etc.) to provide a tactile feel to thescreen 20. To do so, the processing module creates tactile data, whichis provided to the appropriate drive-sense circuits (DSC) via thetactile screen processing module 92, which may be a stand-aloneprocessing module or integrated into processing module 42. Thedrive-sense circuits (DSC) convert the tactile data into drive-actuatesignals and provide them to the appropriate actuators to create thedesired tactile feel on the screen 20.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a touch screendisplay 80 that includes a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSC), atouch screen processing module 82, a display 83, and a plurality ofelectrodes 85. The touch screen display 80 is coupled to a processingmodule 42, a video graphics processing module 48, and a displayinterface 93, which are components of a computing device (e.g., 14-18),an interactive display, or other device that includes a touch screendisplay. An interactive display functions to provide users with aninteractive experience (e.g., touch the screen to obtain information, beentertained, etc.). For example, a store provides interactive displaysfor customers to find certain products, to obtain coupons, to entercontests, etc.

There are a variety of other devices that include a touch screendisplay. For example, a vending machine includes a touch screen displayto select and/or pay for an item. As another example of a device havinga touch screen display is an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). As yetanother example, an automobile includes a touch screen display forentertainment media control, navigation, climate control, etc.

The touch screen display 80 includes a large display 83 that has aresolution equal to or greater than full high-definition (HD), an aspectratio of a set of aspect ratios, and a screen size equal to or greaterthan thirty-two inches. The following table lists various combinationsof resolution, aspect ratio, and screen size for the display 83, butit's not an exhaustive list.

pixel screen Width Height aspect aspect Resolution (lines) (lines) ratioratio screen size (inches) HD (high 1280 720 1:1 16:9 32, 40, 43, 50,55, 60, definition) 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 Full HD 1920 1080 1:1 16:9 32,40, 43, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 HD 960 720 4:3 16:9 32, 40, 43,50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 HD 1440 1080 4:3 16:9 32, 40, 43, 50,55, 60, 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 HD 1280 1080 3:2 16:9 32, 40, 43, 50, 55,60, 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 QHD (quad 2560 1440 1:1 16:9 32, 40, 43, 50,55, 60, HD) 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 UHD (Ultra 3840 2160 1:1 16:9 32, 40,43, 50, 55, 60, HD) or 4K 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 8K 7680 4320 1:1 16:9 32,40, 43, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, &/or >80 HD and 1280- 720- 1:1, 2:3, 2:3 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, above >= 7680 >= 4320 etc. 75, &/or >80

The display 83 is one of a variety of types of displays that is operableto render frames of data into visible images. For example, the displayis one or more of: a light emitting diode (LED) display, anelectroluminescent display (ELD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a liquidcrystal display (LCD), an LCD high performance addressing (HPA) display,an LCD thin film transistor (TFT) display, an organic light emittingdiode (OLED) display, a digital light processing (DLP) display, asurface conductive electron emitter (SED) display, a field emissiondisplay (FED), a laser TV display, a carbon nanotubes display, a quantumdot display, an interferometric modulator display (IMOD), and a digitalmicroshutter display (DMS). The display is active in a full display modeor a multiplexed display mode (i.e., only part of the display is activeat a time).

The display 83 further includes integrated electrodes 85 that providethe sensors for the touch sense part of the touch screen display. Theelectrodes 85 are distributed throughout the display area or where touchscreen functionality is desired. For example, a first group of theelectrodes are arranged in rows and a second group of electrodes arearranged in columns. As will be discussed in greater detail withreference to one or more of FIGS. 9-12 , the row electrodes areseparated from the column electrodes by a dielectric material.

The electrodes 85 are comprised of a transparent conductive material andare in-cell or on-cell with respect to layers of the display. Forexample, a conductive trace is placed in-cell or on-cell of a layer ofthe touch screen display. The transparent conductive material, which issubstantially transparent and has negligible effect on video quality ofthe display with respect to the human eye. For instance, an electrode isconstructed from one or more of: Indium Tin Oxide, Graphene, CarbonNanotubes, Thin Metal Films, Silver Nanowires Hybrid Materials,Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide (AZO), Amorphous Indium-Zinc Oxide,Gallium-doped Zinc Oxide (GZO), and poly polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT).

In an example of operation, the processing module 42 is executing anoperating system application 89 and one or more user applications 91.The user applications 91 includes, but is not limited to, a videoplayback application, a spreadsheet application, a word processingapplication, a computer aided drawing application, a photo displayapplication, an image processing application, a database application,etc. While executing an application 91, the processing module generatesdata for display (e.g., video data, image data, text data, etc.). Theprocessing module 42 sends the data to the video graphics processingmodule 48, which converts the data into frames of video 87.

The video graphics processing module 48 sends the frames of video 87(e.g., frames of a video file, refresh rate for a word processingdocument, a series of images, etc.) to the display interface 93. Thedisplay interface 93 provides the frames of video to the display 83,which renders the frames of video into visible images.

While the display 83 is rendering the frames of video into visibleimages, the drive-sense circuits (DSC) provide sensor signals to theelectrodes 85. When the screen is touched, capacitance of the electrodes85 proximal to the touch (i.e., directly or close by) is changed. TheDSCs detect the capacitance change for effected electrodes and providethe detected change to the touch screen processing module 82.

The touch screen processing module 82 processes the capacitance changeof the effected electrodes to determine one or more specific locationsof touch and provides this information to the processing module 42.Processing module 42 processes the one or more specific locations oftouch to determine if an operation of the application is to be altered.For example, the touch is indicative of a pause command, a fast forwardcommand, a reverse command, an increase volume command, a decreasevolume command, a stop command, a select command, a delete command, etc.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a touchscreen display 80 that includes a plurality of drive-sense circuits(DSC), the processing module 42, a display 83, and a plurality ofelectrodes 85. The processing module 42 is executing an operating system89 and one or more user applications 91 to produce frames of data 87.The processing module 42 provides the frames of data 87 to the displayinterface 93. The touch screen display 80 operates similarly to thetouch screen display 80 of FIG. 4 with the above noted differences.

FIG. 6 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for sensing atouch on a touch screen display that is executed by one or moreprocessing modules (e.g., 42, 82, and/or 48 of the previous figures).The method begins at step 100 where the processing module generate acontrol signal (e.g., power enable, operation enable, etc.) to enable adrive-sense circuit to monitor the sensor signal on the electrode. Theprocessing module generates additional control signals to enable otherdrive-sense circuits to monitor their respective sensor signals. In anexample, the processing module enables all of the drive-sense circuitsfor continuous sensing for touches of the screen. In another example,the processing module enables a first group of drive-sense circuitscoupled to a first group of row electrodes and enables a second group ofdrive-sense circuits coupled to a second group of column electrodes.

The method continues at step 102 where the processing module receives arepresentation of the impedance on the electrode from a drive-sensecircuit. In general, the drive-sense circuit provides a drive signal tothe electrode. The impedance of the electrode affects the drive signal.The effect on the drive signal is interpreted by the drive-sense circuitto produce the representation of the impedance of the electrode. Theprocessing module does this with each activated drive-sense circuit inserial, in parallel, or in a serial-parallel manner.

The method continues at step 104 where the processing module interpretsthe representation of the impedance on the electrode to detect a changein the impedance of the electrode. A change in the impedance isindicative of a touch. For example, an increase in self-capacitance(e.g., the capacitance of the electrode with respect to a reference(e.g., ground, etc.)) is indicative of a touch on the electrode. Asanother example, a decrease in mutual capacitance (e.g., the capacitancebetween a row electrode and a column electrode) is also indicative of atouch near the electrodes. The processing module does this for eachrepresentation of the impedance of the electrode it receives. Note thatthe representation of the impedance is a digital value, an analogsignal, an impedance value, and/or any other analog or digital way ofrepresenting a sensor's impedance.

The method continues at step 106 where the processing module interpretsthe change in the impedance to indicate a touch of the touch screendisplay in an area corresponding to the electrode. For each change inimpedance detected, the processing module indicates a touch. Furtherprocessing may be done to determine if the touch is a desired touch oran undesired touch. Such further processing will be discussed in greaterdetail with reference to one or more of FIGS. 33-35 .

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a drive sensecircuit 28 that includes a first conversion circuit 110 and a secondconversion circuit 112. The first conversion circuit 110 converts asensor signal 116 into a sensed signal 120. The second conversioncircuit 112 generates the drive signal component 114 from the sensedsignal 112. As an example, the first conversion circuit 110 functions tokeep the sensor signal 116 substantially constant (e.g., substantiallymatching a reference signal) by creating the sensed signal 120 tocorrespond to changes in a receive signal component 118 of the sensorsignal. The second conversion circuit 112 functions to generate a drivesignal component 114 of the sensor signal based on the sensed signal 120to substantially compensate for changes in the receive signal component118 such that the sensor signal 116 remains substantially constant.

In an example, the drive signal 116 is provided to the electrode 85 as aregulated current signal. The regulated current (I) signal incombination with the impedance (Z) of the electrode creates an electrodevoltage (V), where V=I*Z. As the impedance (Z) of electrode changes, theregulated current (I) signal is adjusted to keep the electrode voltage(V) substantially unchanged. To regulate the current signal, the firstconversion circuit 110 adjusts the sensed signal 120 based on thereceive signal component 118, which is indicative of the impedance ofthe electrode and change thereof. The second conversion circuit 112adjusts the regulated current based on the changes to the sensed signal120.

As another example, the drive signal 116 is provided to the electrode 85as a regulated voltage signal. The regulated voltage (V) signal incombination with the impedance (Z) of the electrode creates an electrodecurrent (I), where I=V/Z. As the impedance (Z) of electrode changes, theregulated voltage (V) signal is adjusted to keep the electrode current(I) substantially unchanged. To regulate the voltage signal, the firstconversion circuit 110 adjusts the sensed signal 120 based on thereceive signal component 118, which is indicative of the impedance ofthe electrode and change thereof. The second conversion circuit 112adjusts the regulated voltage based on the changes to the sensed signal120.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a drivesense circuit 28 that includes a first conversion circuit 110 and asecond conversion circuit 112. The first conversion circuit 110 includesa comparator (comp) and an analog to digital converter 130. The secondconversion circuit 112 includes a digital to analog converter 132, asignal source circuit 133, and a driver.

In an example of operation, the comparator compares the sensor signal116 to an analog reference signal 122 to produce an analog comparisonsignal 124. The analog reference signal 124 includes a DC component andan oscillating component. As such, the sensor signal 116 will have asubstantially matching DC component and oscillating component. Anexample of an analog reference signal 122 will be described in greaterdetail with reference to FIG. 15 .

The analog to digital converter 130 converts the analog comparisonsignal 124 into the sensed signal 120. The analog to digital converter(ADC) 130 may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, the(ADC) 130 is one of: a flash ADC, a successive approximation ADC, aramp-compare ADC, a Wilkinson ADC, an integrating ADC, a delta encodedADC, and/or a sigma-delta ADC. The digital to analog converter (DAC) 214may be a sigma-delta DAC, a pulse width modulator DAC, a binary weightedDAC, a successive approximation DAC, and/or a thermometer-coded DAC.

The digital to analog converter (DAC) 132 converts the sensed signal 120into an analog feedback signal 126. The signal source circuit 133 (e.g.,a dependent current source, a linear regulator, a DC-DC power supply,etc.) generates a regulated source signal 135 (e.g., a regulated currentsignal or a regulated voltage signal) based on the analog feedbacksignal 126. The driver increases power of the regulated source signal135 to produce the drive signal component 114.

FIG. 9A is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of atouch screen display 83 with in-cell touch sensors, which includeslighting layers 77 and display with integrated touch sensing layers 79.The lighting layers 77 include a light distributing layer 87, a lightguide layer 85, a prism film layer 83, and a defusing film layer 81. Thedisplay with integrated touch sensing layers 79 include a rearpolarizing film layer 105, a glass layer 103, a rear transparentelectrode layer with thin film transistors 101 (which may be two or moreseparate layers), a liquid crystal layer (e.g., a rubber polymer layerwith spacers) 99, a front electrode layer with thin film transistors 97,a color mask layer 95, a glass layer 93, and a front polarizing filmlayer 91. Note that one or more protective layers may be applied overthe polarizing film layer 91.

In an example of operation, a row of LEDs (light emitted diodes)projects light into the light distributing player 87, which projects thelight towards the light guide 85. The light guide includes a pluralityof holes that let's some light components pass at differing angles. Theprism film layer 83 increases perpendicularity of the light components,which are then defused by the defusing film layer 81 to provide asubstantially even back lighting for the display with integrated touchsense layers 79.

The two polarizing film layers 105 and 91 are orientated to block thelight (i.e., provide black light). The front and rear electrode layers97 and 101 provide an electric field at a sub-pixel level to orientateliquid crystals in the liquid crystal layer 99 to twist the light. Whenthe electric field is off, or is very low, the liquid crystals areorientated in a first manner (e.g., end-to-end) that does not twist thelight, thus, for the sub-pixel, the two polarizing film layers 105 and91 are blocking the light. As the electric field is increased, theorientation of the liquid crystals change such that the two polarizingfilm layers 105 and 91 pass the light (e.g., white light). When theliquid crystals are in a second orientation (e.g., side by side),intensity of the light is at its highest point.

The color mask layer 95 includes three sub-pixel color masks (red,green, and blue) for each pixel of the display, which includes aplurality of pixels (e.g., 1440×1080). As the electric field produced byelectrodes change the orientations of the liquid crystals at thesub-pixel level, the light is twisted to produce varying sub-pixelbrightness. The sub-pixel light passes through its correspondingsub-pixel color mask to produce a color component for the pixel. Thevarying brightness of the three sub-pixel colors (red, green, and blue),collectively produce a single color to the human eye. For example, ablue shirt has a 12% red component, a 20% green component, and 55% bluecomponent.

The in-cell touch sense functionality uses the existing layers of thedisplay layers 79 to provide capacitance-based sensors. For instance,one or more of the transparent front and rear electrode layers 97 and101 are used to provide row electrodes and column electrodes. Variousexamples of creating row and column electrodes from one or more of thetransparent front and rear electrode layers 97 and 101 is discussed insome of the subsequent figures.

FIG. 9B is a schematic block diagram of an example of a transparentelectrode layer 97 and/or 101 with thin film transistors (TFT).Sub-pixel electrodes are formed on the transparent electrode layer andeach sub-pixel electrode is coupled to a thin film transistor (TFT).Three sub-pixels (R-red, G-green, and B-blue) form a pixel. The gates ofthe TFTs associated with a row of sub-electrodes are coupled to a commongate line. In this example, each of the four rows has its own gate line.The drains (or sources) of the TFTs associated with a column ofsub-electrodes are coupled to a common R, B, or G data line. The sources(or drains) of the TFTs are coupled to its corresponding sub-electrode.

In an example of operation, one gate line is activated at a time and RGBdata for each pixel of the corresponding row is placed on the RGB datalines. At the next time interval, another gate line is activated and theRGB data for the pixels of that row is placed on the RGB data lines. For1080 rows and a refresh rate of 60 Hz, each row is activated for about15 microseconds each time it is activated, which is 60 times per second.When the sub-pixels of a row are not activated, the liquid crystal layerholds at least some of the charge to keep an orientation of the liquidcrystals.

FIG. 9C is a schematic block diagram of an example of a pixel with threesub-pixels (R-red, G-green, and B-blue). In this example, the frontsub-pixel electrodes are formed in the front transparent conductor layer97 and the rear sub-pixel electrodes are formed in the rear transparentconductor layer 101. Each front and rear sub-pixel electrode is coupledto a corresponding thin film transistor. The thin film transistorscoupled to the top sub-pixel electrodes are coupled to a front (f) gateline and to front R, G, and B data lines. The thin film transistorscoupled to the bottom sub-pixel electrodes are coupled to a rear (f)gate line and to rear R, G, and B data lines.

To create an electric field between related sub-pixel electrodes, adifferential gate signal is applied to the front and rear gate lines anddifferential R, G, and B data signals are applied to the front and rearR, G, and B data lines. For example, for the red (R) sub-pixel, the thinfilm transistors are activated by the signal on the gate lines. Theelectric field created by the red sub-pixel electrodes is depending onthe front and rear Red data signals. As a specific example, a largedifferential voltage creates a large electric field, which twists thelight towards maximum light passing and increases the red component ofthe pixel.

The gate lines and data lines are non-transparent wires (e.g., copper)that are positioned between the sub-pixel electrodes such that they arehidden from human sight. The non-transparent wires may be on the samelayer as the sub-pixel electrodes or on different layers and coupledusing vias.

FIG. 9D is a schematic block diagram of another example of a pixel withthree sub-pixels (R-red, G-green, and B-blue). In this example, thefront sub-pixel electrodes are formed in the front transparent conductorlayer 97 and the rear sub-pixel electrodes are formed in the reartransparent conductor layer 101. Each front sub-pixel electrode iscoupled to a corresponding thin film transistor. The thin filmtransistors coupled to the top sub-pixel electrodes are coupled to afront (f) gate line and to front R, G, and B data lines. Each rearsub-pixel electrode is coupled to a common voltage reference (e.g.,ground, which may be a common ground plane or a segmented common groundplane (e.g., separate ground planes coupled together to form a commonground plane)).

To create an electric field between related sub-pixel electrodes, asingle-ended gate signal is applied to the front gate lines and asingle-ended R, G, and B data signals are applied to the front R, G, andB data lines. For example, for the red (R) sub-pixel, the thin filmtransistors are activated by the signal on the gate lines. The electricfield created by the red sub-pixel electrodes is depending on the frontRed data signals.

FIG. 9E is a schematic block diagram of an example of sub-pixelelectrodes of the front or back electrode layer 97 or 101 coupledtogether to form row electrodes of a touch screen sensor. In thisexample, 3 rows of sub-pixel electrodes are coupled together byconductors (e.g., wires, metal traces, vias, etc.) to form one rowelectrode, which is coupled to a drive sense circuit (DSC) 28. More orless rows of sub-pixel electrodes may be coupled together to form a rowelectrode.

FIG. 9F is a schematic block diagram of an example of sub-pixelelectrodes front or back electrode layer 97 or 101 coupled together toform column electrodes of a touch screen sensor. In this example, 9columns of sub-pixel electrodes are coupled together by conductors(e.g., wires, metal traces, vias, etc.) to form one column electrode,which is coupled to a drive sense circuit (DSC) 28. More or less columnsof sub-pixel electrodes may be coupled together to form a columnelectrode.

With respect to FIGS. 9E and 9F, the row electrodes may be formed on oneof the transparent conductor layers 97 or 101 and the column electrodesare formed on the other. In this instance, differential signaling isused for display functionality of sub-pixel electrodes and a common modevoltage is used for touch sensing on the row and column electrodes. Thisallows for concurrent display and touch sensing operations withnegligible adverse effect on di splay operation.

FIG. 9G is a schematic block diagram of an example of sub-pixelelectrodes coupled together to form row electrodes and column electrodesof a touch screen sensor on one of the transparent conductive layers 97or 101. In this example, 5×5 sub-pixel electrodes are coupled togetherto form a square (or diamond, depending on orientation), or othergeometric shape. The 5 by 5 squares are then cross coupled together toform a row electrode or a column electrode.

In this example, white sub-pixel sub-electrodes with a grey backgroundare grouped to form a row electrode for touch sensing and the greysub-pixels with the white background are grouped to form a columnelectrode. Each row electrode and column electrode is coupled to a drivesense circuit (DSC) 28. As shown, the row and column electrodes fortouch sensing are diagonal. Note that the geometric shape of the row andcolumn electrodes may be of a different configuration (e.g., zig-zagpattern, lines, etc.) and that the number of sub-pixel electrodes persquare (or other shape) may include more or less than 25.

FIG. 9H is a schematic block diagram of an example of a segmented commonground plane forming row electrodes and column electrodes of a touchscreen sensor on the rear transparent conductive layer 101. In thisinstance, each square (or other shape) corresponds to a segment of acommon ground plane that services a group of sub-pixel electrodes on thefront transparent layer 97. The squares (or other shape) are coupledtogether to form row electrodes and column electrodes. The whitesegmented common ground planes are coupled together to form columnelectrodes and the grey segmented common ground planes are coupledtogether to form row electrodes. By implementing the on-cell touchscreen row and column electrodes in the common ground plane, display andtouch sense functionalities may be concurrently executed with negligibleadverse effects on the display functionality.

FIG. 9I is a schematic block diagram of another example of sub-pixelelectrodes coupled together to form row and column electrodes of a touchscreen sensor. In this example, a sub-pixel is represented as acapacitor, with the top plate being implemented in the front ITO layer97 and the bottom plate being implemented in the back ITO layer 101,which is implemented as a common ground plan. The thin film transistorsare represented as switches. In this example, 3×3 sub-pixel electrodeson the rear ITO layer are coupled together to form a portion of a rowelectrode for touch sensing or a column electrode for touch sensing.With each of the drive sense circuits 28 injecting a common signal forself-capacitance sensing, the common signal has negligible adverseeffects on the display operation of the sub-pixels.

FIG. 9J is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of atouch screen display 83-1 with on-cell touch sensors, which includeslighting layers 77 and display with integrated touch sensing layers 79.The lighting layers 77 include a light distributing layer 87, a lightguide layer 85, a prism film layer 83, and a defusing film layer 81. Thedisplay with integrated touch sensing layers 79 include a rearpolarizing film layer 105, a glass layer 103, a rear transparentelectrode layer with thin film transistors 101 (which may be two or moreseparate layers), a liquid crystal layer (e.g., a rubber polymer layerwith spacers) 99, a front electrode layer with thin film transistors 97,a color mask layer 95, a glass layer 93, a transparent touch layer 107,and a front polarizing film layer 91. Note that one or more protectivelayers may be applied over the polarizing film layer 91.

The lighting layer 77 and the display with integrated touch sensinglayer 79-1 function as described with reference to FIG. 9A forgenerating a display. A difference lies in how on-cell touch sensing ofthis embodiment in comparison to the in-cell touch sensing of FIG. 9A.In particular, this embodiment includes an extra transparent conductivelayer 107 to provide, or assist, with capacitive-based touch sensing.For example, the extra transparent conductive layer 107 includes row andcolumn electrodes as shown in FIG. 9H. As another example, the extratransparent conductive layer 107 includes row electrodes or columnelectrodes and another one of the conductive layers 97 or 101 includesthe other electrodes (e.g., column electrodes if the extra transparentlayer includes row electrodes).

FIG. 10A is a cross section schematic block diagram of a touch screendisplay 80 without a touch of a finger or a pen. The cross section istaken parallel to a column electrode 85-c and a perpendicular to a rowelectrode 85-r. The column electrode 85-c is positioned between twodielectric layers 140 and 142. Alternatively, the column electrode 85-cis in the second dielectric layer 142. The row electrode 85-r ispositioned in the second dielectric layer 142. Alternatively, the rowelectrode 85-r is positioned between the dielectric layer 142 and thedisplay substrate 144. As another alternative, the row and columnelectrodes are in the same layer. In one or more embodiments, the rowand column electrodes are formed as discussed in one or more of FIGS.9A-9J.

Each electrode 85 has a self-capacitance, which corresponds to aparasitic capacitance created by the electrode with respect to otherconductors in the display (e.g., ground, conductive layer(s), and/or oneor more other electrodes). For example, row electrode 85-r has aparasitic capacitance C_(p2) and column electrode 85-c has a parasiticcapacitance C_(p1). Note that each electrode includes a resistancecomponent and, as such, produces a distributed R-C circuit. The longerthe electrode, the greater the impedance of the distributed R-C circuit.For simplicity of illustration the distributed R-C circuit of anelectrode will be represented as a single parasitic capacitance.

As shown, the touch screen display 80 includes a plurality of layers140-144. Each illustrated layer may itself include one or more layers.For example, dielectric layer 140 includes a surface protective film, aglass protective film, and/or one or more pressure sensitive adhesive(PSA) layers. As another example, the second dielectric layer 142includes a glass cover, a polyester (PET) film, a support plate (glassor plastic) to support, or embed, one or more of the electrodes 85-c and85-r, a base plate (glass, plastic, or PET), and one or more PSA layers.As yet another example, the display substrate 144 includes one or moreLCD layers, a back-light layer, one or more reflector layers, one ormore polarizing layers, and/or one or more PSA layers.

FIG. 10B is a cross section schematic block diagram of a touch screendisplay 80, which is the same as in FIG. 9 . This figure furtherincludes a finger touch, which changes the self-capacitance of theelectrodes. In essence, a finger touch creates a parallel capacitancewith the parasitic self-capacitances. For example, the self-capacitanceof the column electrode 85-c is C_(p1) (parasitic capacitance)+C_(f1)(finger capacitance) and the self-capacitance of the row electrode 85-ris C_(p2)+C_(f2). As such, the finger capacitance increases theself-capacitance of the electrodes, which decreases the impedance for agiven frequency. The change in impedance of the self-capacitance isdetectable by a corresponding drive sense circuit and is subsequentlyprocessed to indicate a screen touch.

FIG. 11 is a cross section schematic block diagram of a touch screendisplay 80, which is the same as in FIG. 9 . This figure furtherincludes a mutual capacitance (Cm_0) between the electrodes when a touchis not present.

FIG. 12 is a cross section schematic block diagram of a touch screendisplay 80, which is the same as in FIG. 9 . This figure furtherincludes a mutual capacitance (Cm_1) between the electrodes when a touchis present. In this example, the finger capacitance is effectively inseries with the mutual capacitance, which decreasing capacitance of themutual capacitance. As the capacitance decreases for a given frequency,the impedance increases. The change in impedance of themutual-capacitance is detectable by a corresponding drive sense circuitand is subsequently processed to indicate a screen touch. Note that,depending on the various properties (e.g., thicknesses, dielectricconstants, electrode sizes, electrode spacing, etc.) of the touch screendisplay, the parasitic capacitances, the mutual capacitances, and/or thefinger capacitance are in the range of a few pico-Farads to tens ofnano-Farads. In equation form, the capacitance (C) equals:

$C = {\epsilon\frac{A}{d}}$

-   -   where A is plate area, ϵ is the dielectric constant(s),        -   and d is the distance between the plates.

FIG. 13 is an example graph that plots condition verses capacitance foran electrode of a touch screen display. As shown, the mutual capacitancedecreases with a touch and the self-capacitance increases with a touch.Note that the mutual capacitance and self-capacitance for a no-touchcondition are shown to be about the same. This is done merely for easeof illustration. In practice, the mutual capacitance andself-capacitance may or may not be about the same capacitance based onthe various properties of the touch screen display discussed above.

FIG. 14 is an example graph that plots impedance verses frequency for anelectrode of a touch screen display. Since the impedance of an electrodeis primarily based on its capacitance (self and/or mutual), as thefrequency increases for a fixed capacitance, the impedance decreasesbased on ½πfC, where f is the frequency and C is the capacitance.

FIG. 15 is a time domain example graph that plots magnitude verses timefor an analog reference signal 122. As discussed with reference to FIG.8 , the analog reference signal 122 (e.g., a current signal or a voltagesignal) is inputted to a comparator and is compared to the sensor signal116. The feedback loop of the drive sense circuit 28 functions to keepthe senor signal 116 substantially matching the analog reference signal122. As such, the sensor signal 116 will have a similar waveform to thatof the analog reference signal 122.

In an example, the analog reference signal 122 includes a DC component121 and/or one or more oscillating components 123. The DC component 121is a DC voltage in the range of a few hundred milli-volts to tens ofvolts or more. The oscillating component 123 includes a sinusoidalsignal, a square wave signal, a triangular wave signal, a multiple levelsignal (e.g., has varying magnitude over time with respect to the DCcomponent), and/or a polygonal signal (e.g., has a symmetrical orasymmetrical polygonal shape with respect to the DC component).

In another example, the frequency of the oscillating component 123 mayvary so that it can be tuned to the impedance of the sensor and/or to beoff-set in frequency from other sensor signals in a system. For example,a capacitance sensor's impedance decreases with frequency. As such, ifthe frequency of the oscillating component is too high with respect tothe capacitance, the capacitor looks like a short and variances incapacitances will be missed. Similarly, if the frequency of theoscillating component is too low with respect to the capacitance, thecapacitor looks like an open and variances in capacitances will bemissed.

FIG. 16 is a frequency domain example graph that plots magnitude versesfrequency for an analog reference signal 122. As shown, the analogreference signal 122 includes the DC component 121 at DC (e.g., 0 Hz ornear 0 Hz), a first oscillating component 123-1 at a first frequency(f1), and a second oscillating component 123-2 at a second frequency(f2). In an example, the DC component is used to measure resistance ofan electrode (if desired), the first oscillating component 123-1 is usedto measure the impedance of self-capacitance, and the second oscillatingcomponent 123-2 is used to measure the impedance of mutual-capacitance.Note that the second frequency may be greater than the first frequency.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit 28-1 coupled to a first electrode 85-c and a second drivesense circuit 28-2 coupled to a second electrode 85-r without a touchproximal to the electrodes. Each of the drive sense circuits include acomparator, an analog to digital converter (ADC) 130, a digital toanalog converter (DAC) 132, a signal source circuit 133, and a driver.The functionality of this embodiment of a drive sense circuit wasdescribed with reference to FIG. 8 . For additional embodiments of adrive sense circuit see pending patent application entitled, “DriveSense Circuit with Drive-Sense Line” having a filing date of Aug. 26,2019, and an application number of Ser. No. 16/113,379.

As an example, a first reference signal 122-1 (e.g., analog or digital)is provided to the first drive sense circuit 28-1 and a second referencesignal 122-2 (e.g., analog or digital) is provided to the second drivesense circuit 28-2. The first reference signal includes a DC componentand/or an oscillating at frequency f1. The second reference signalincludes a DC component and/or two oscillating components: the first atfrequency f1 and the second at frequency f2.

The first drive sense circuit 28-1 generates a sensor signal 116 basedon the reference signal 122-1 and provides the sensor signal to thecolumn electrode 85-c. The second drive sense circuit generates anothersensor signal 116 based on the reference signal 122-2 and provides thesensor signal to the column electrode.

In response to the sensor signals being applied to the electrodes, thefirst drive sense circuit 28-1 generates a first sensed signal 120-1,which includes a component at frequency f1 and a component a frequencyf2. The component at frequency f1 corresponds to the self-capacitance ofthe column electrode 85-c and the component a frequency f2 correspondsto the mutual capacitance between the row and column electrodes 85-c and85-r. The self-capacitance is expressed as 1/(2πf1Cp1) and the mutualcapacitance is expressed as 1/(2πf2Cm_0).

Also, in response to the sensor signals being applied to the electrodes,the second drive sense circuit 28-1 generates a second sensed signal120-2, which includes a component at frequency f₁ and a component afrequency f₂. The component at frequency f₁ corresponds to a shieldedself-capacitance of the row electrode 85-r and the component a frequencyf₂ corresponds to an unshielded self-capacitance of the row electrode85-r. The shielded self-capacitance of the row electrode is expressed as1/(2πf1Cp2) and the unshielded self-capacitance of the row electrode isexpressed as 1/(2πf2Cp2).

With each active drive sense circuit using the same frequency forself-capacitance (e.g., f₁), the row and column electrodes are at thesame potential, which substantially eliminates cross-coupling betweenthe electrodes. This provides a shielded (i.e., low noise)self-capacitance measurement for the active drive sense circuits. Inthis example, with the second drive sense circuit transmitting thesecond frequency component, it has a second frequency component in itssensed signal, but is primarily based on the row electrode'sself-capacitance with some cross coupling from other electrodes carryingsignals at different frequencies. The cross coupling of signals at otherfrequencies injects unwanted noise into this self-capacitancemeasurement and hence it is referred to as unshielded.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit 28-1 coupled to a first electrode 85-c and a second drivesense circuit 28-2 coupled to a second electrode 85-r with a fingertouch proximal to the electrodes. This example is similar to the one ofFIG. 17 with the difference being a finger touch proximal to theelectrodes (e.g., a touch that shadows the intersection of theelectrodes or is physically close to the intersection of theelectrodes). With the finger touch, the self-capacitance and the mutualcapacitance of the electrodes are changed.

In this example, the impedance of the self-capacitance at f1 of thecolumn electrode 85-c now includes the effect of the finger capacitance.As such, the impedance of the self-capacitance of the column electrodeequals 1/(2πf1*(Cp1+Cf1)), which is included the sensed signal 120-1.The second frequency component at f2 corresponds to the impedance of themutual-capacitance at f2, which includes the effect of the fingercapacitance. As such, the impedance of the mutual capacitance equals1/(2πf2Cm_1), where C_(m_1)=(C_(m_0)*C_(f1))/(C_(m_0)+C_(f1)).

Continuing with this example, the first frequency component at f1 of thesecond sensed signal 120-2 corresponds to the impedance of the shieldedself-capacitance of the row electrode 85-r at f1, which is effected bythe finger capacitance. As such, the impedance of the capacitance of therow electrode 85-r equals 1/(2πf1*(Cp2+Cf2)). The second frequencycomponent at f2 of the second sensed signal 120-2 corresponds to theimpedance of the unshielded self-capacitance at f2, which includes theeffect of the finger capacitance and is equal to 1/(2πf2*(Cp2+Cf2)).

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit 28-1 coupled to a first electrode 85-c and a second drivesense circuit 28-2 coupled to a second electrode 85-r with a pen touchproximal to the electrodes. This example is similar to the one of FIG.17 with the difference being a pen touch proximal to the electrodes(e.g., a touch that shadows the intersection of the electrodes or isphysically close to the intersection of the electrodes). With the pentouch, the self-capacitance and the mutual capacitance of the electrodesare changed based on the capacitance of the pen Cpen1 and C_(pen2).

In this example, the impedance of the self-capacitance at f1 of thecolumn electrode 85-c now includes the effect of the pen's capacitance.As such, the impedance of the self-capacitance of the column electrodeequals 1/(2πf1*(Cp1+Cpen1)), which is included the sensed signal 120-1.The second frequency component at f2 corresponds to the impedance of themutual-capacitance at f2, which includes the effect of the pencapacitance. As such, the impedance of the mutual capacitance equals1/(2πf2Cm_2), where C_(m_2)=(C_(m_0)*C_(pen2))/(C_(m_0)+C_(pen1)).

Continuing with this example, the first frequency component at f1 of thesecond sensed signal 120-2 corresponds to the impedance of the shieldedself-capacitance of the row electrode 85-r at f3, which is effected bythe pen capacitance. As such, the impedance of the shieldedself-capacitance of the row electrode 85-r equals 1/(2πf1*(Cp2+Cpen2)).The second frequency component at f2 of the second sensed signal 120-2corresponds to the impedance of the unshielded self-capacitance at f2,which includes the effect of the pen capacitance and is equal to1/(2πf2*(Cp2+Cpen2)). Note that the pen capacitance is represented astwo capacitances, but may be one capacitance value or a plurality ofdistributed capacitance values.

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first drivesense circuit 28-1 coupled to a first electrode 85-c and a second drivesense circuit 28-2 coupled to a second electrode 85-r with a penproximal to the electrodes. Each of the drive sense circuits include acomparator, an analog to digital converter (ADC) 130, a digital toanalog converter (DAC) 132, a signal source circuit 133, and a driver.The functionality of this embodiment of a drive sense circuit wasdescribed with reference to FIG. 8 . The pen is operable to transmit asignal at a frequency of f4, which affects the self and mutualcapacitances of the electrodes 85.

In this example, a first reference signal 122-1 is provided to the firstdrive sense circuit 28-1. The first reference signal includes a DCcomponent and/or an oscillating component at frequency f1. The firstoscillating component at f1 is used to sense impedance of theself-capacitance of the column electrode 85-c. The first drive sensecircuit 28-1 generates a first sensed signal 120-1 that includes threefrequency dependent components. The first frequency component at f1corresponds to the impedance of the self-capacitance at f1, which equals1/(2πf1Cp1). The second frequency component at f2 corresponds to theimpedance of the mutual-capacitance at f2, which equals 1/(2πf2Cm_0).The third frequency component at f4 corresponds to the signaltransmitted by the pen.

Continuing with this example, a second reference signal 122-2 isprovided to the second drive sense circuit 28-2. The second analogreference signal includes a DC component and/or two oscillatingcomponents: the first at frequency f1 and the second at frequency f2.The first oscillating component at f1 is used to sense impedance of theshielded self-capacitance of the row electrode 85-r and the secondoscillating component at f2 is used to sense the unshieldedself-capacitance of the row electrode 85-r. The second drive sensecircuit 28-2 generates a second sensed signal 120-2 that includes threefrequency dependent components. The first frequency component at f1corresponds to the impedance of the shielded self-capacitance at f3,which equals 1/(2πf1Cp2). The second frequency component at f2corresponds to the impedance of the unshielded self-capacitance at f2,which equals 1/(2πf2Cp2). The third frequency component at f4corresponds to signal transmitted by the pen.

As a further example, the pen transmits a sinusoidal signal having afrequency of f4. When the pen is near the surface of the touch screen,electromagnetic properties of the signal increase the voltage on (orcurrent in) the electrodes proximal to the touch of the pen. Sinceimpedance is equal to voltage/current and as a specific example, whenthe voltage increases for a constant current, the impedance increases.As another specific example, when the current increases for a constantvoltage, the impedance increases. The increase in impedance isdetectable and is used as an indication of a touch.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a touchscreen display 80 that includes the display 83, the electrodes 85, aplurality of drive sense circuits (DSC), and the touch screen processingmodule 82, which function as previously discussed. In addition, thetouch screen processing module 82 generates a plurality of controlsignals 150 to enable the drive-sense circuits (DSC) to monitor thesensor signals 120 on the electrodes 85. For example, the processingmodule 82 provides an individual control signal 150 to each of the drivesense circuits to individually enable or disable the drive sensecircuits. In an embodiment, the control signal 150 closes a switch toprovide power to the drive sense circuit. In another embodiment, thecontrol signal 150 enables one or more components of the drive sensecircuit.

The processing module 82 further provides analog reference signals 122to the drive sense circuits. In an embodiment, each drive sense circuitreceives a unique analog reference signal. In another embodiment, afirst group of drive sense circuits receive a first analog referencesignal and a second group of drive sense circuits receive a secondanalog reference signal. In yet another embodiment, the drive sensecircuits receive the same analog reference signal. Note that theprocessing module 82 uses a combination of analog reference signals withcontrol signals to ensure that different frequencies are used foroscillating components of the analog reference signal.

The drive sense circuits provide sensed signals 116 to the electrodes.The impedances of the electrodes affect the sensed signal, which thedrive sense circuits sense via the received signal component andgenerate the sensed signal 120 therefrom. The sensed signals 120 areessentially representations of the impedances of the electrodes, whichare provided to the touch screen processing module 82.

The processing module 82 interprets the sensed signals 122 (e.g., therepresentations of impedances of the electrodes) to detect a change inthe impedance of one or more electrodes. For example, a finger touchincreases the self-capacitance of an electrode, thereby decreasing itsimpedance at a given frequency. As another example, a finger touchdecreases the mutual capacitance of an electrode, thereby increasing itsimpedance at a given frequency. The processing module 82 then interpretsthe change in the impedance of one or more electrodes to indicate one ormore touches of the touch screen display 80.

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a touchless example of a fewdrive sense circuits 28 and a portion of the touch screen processingmodule 82 of a touch screen display 80. The portion of the processingmodule 82 includes band pass filters 160, 162, 160-1, & 160-2,self-frequency interpreters 164 & 164-1, and 166 & 166-1. As previouslydiscussed, a first drive sense circuit is coupled to column electrode 85c and a second drive sense circuit is coupled to a row electrode 85 r.

The drive sense circuits provide sensor signals 116 to their respectiveelectrodes 85 and produce therefrom respective sensed signals 120. Thefirst sensed signal 120-1 includes a first frequency component at f1that corresponds to the self-capacitance of the column electrode 85 cand a second frequency component at f2 that corresponds to the mutualcapacitance of the column electrode 85 c. The second sensed signal 120-2includes a first frequency component at f1 that corresponds to theshielded self-capacitance of the row electrode 85 r and/or a secondfrequency component at f2 that corresponds to the unshieldedself-capacitance of the row electrode 85 r. In an embodiment, the sensedsignals 120 are frequency domain digital signals.

The first bandpass filter 160 passes (i.e., substantially unattenuated)signals in a bandpass region (e.g., tens of Hertz to hundreds ofthousands of Hertz, or more) centered about frequency f1 and attenuatessignals outside of the bandpass region. As such, the first bandpassfilter 160 passes the portion of the sensed signal 120-1 thatcorresponds to the self-capacitance of the column electrode 85 c. In anembodiment, the sensed signal 116 is a digital signal, thus, the firstbandpass filter 160 is a digital filter such as a cascaded integratedcomb (CIC) filter, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, an infiniteimpulse response (IIR) filter, a Butterworth filter, a Chebyshev filter,an elliptic filter, etc.

The frequency interpreter 164 receives the first bandpass filter sensedsignal and interprets it to render a self-capacitance value 168-1 forthe column electrode. As an example, the frequency interpreter 164 is aprocessing module, or portion thereof, that executes a function toconvert the first bandpass filter sensed signal into theself-capacitance value 168-1, which is an actual capacitance value, arelative capacitance value (e.g., in a range of 0-100), or a differencecapacitance value (e.g., is the difference between a default capacitancevalue and a sensed capacitance value). As another example, the frequencyinterpreter 164 is a look up table where the first bandpass filtersensed signal is an index for the table.

The second bandpass filter 162 passes, substantially unattenuated,signals in a second bandpass region (e.g., tens of Hertz to hundreds ofthousands of Hertz, or more) centered about frequency f2 and attenuatessignals outside of the bandpass region. As such, the second bandpassfilter 160 passes the portion of the sensed signal 120-1 thatcorresponds to the mutual-capacitance of the column electrode 85 c andthe row electrode 85 r. In an embodiment, the sensed signal 116 is adigital signal, thus, the second bandpass filter 162 is a digital filtersuch as a cascaded integrated comb (CIC) filter, a finite impulseresponse (FIR) filter, an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter, aButterworth filter, a Chebyshev filter, an elliptic filter, etc.

The frequency interpreter 166 receives the second bandpass filter sensedsignal and interprets it to render a mutual-capacitance value 170-1. Asan example, the frequency interpreter 166 is a processing module, orportion thereof, that executes a function to convert the second bandpassfilter sensed signal into the mutual-capacitance value 170-1, which isan actual capacitance value, a relative capacitance value (e.g., in arange of 0-100), and/or a difference capacitance value (e.g., is thedifference between a default capacitance value and a sensed capacitancevalue). As another example, the frequency interpreter 166 is a look uptable where the first bandpass filter sensed signal is an index for thetable.

For the row electrode 85 r, the drive-sense circuit 28 produces a secondsensed signal 120-2, which includes a shielded self-capacitancecomponent and/or an unshielded self-capacitance component. The thirdbandpass filter 160-1 is similar to the first bandpass filter 160 and,as such passes signals in a bandpass region centered about frequency f1and attenuates signals outside of the bandpass region. In this example,the third bandpass filter 160-1 passes the portion of the second sensedsignal 120-2 that corresponds to the shielded self-capacitance of therow electrode 85 r.

The frequency interpreter 164-1 receives the second bandpass filtersensed signal and interprets it to render a second and shieldedself-capacitance value 168-2 for the row electrode. The frequencyinterpreter 164-1 may be implemented similarly to the first frequencyinterpreter 164 or an integrated portion thereof. In an embodiment, thesecond self-capacitance value 168-2 is an actual capacitance value, arelative capacitance value (e.g., in a range of 0-100), or a differencecapacitance value (e.g., is the difference between a default capacitancevalue and a sensed capacitance value).

The fourth bandpass filter 162-2, if included, is similar to the secondbandpass filter 162. As such, it passes, substantially unattenuated,signals in a bandpass region centered about frequency f2 and attenuatessignals outside of the bandpass region. In this example, the fourthbandpass filter 162-2 passes the portion of the second sensed signal120-2 that corresponds to the unshielded self-capacitance of the rowelectrode 85 r.

The frequency interpreter 166-1, if included, receives the fourthbandpass filter sensed signal and interprets it to render an unshieldedself-capacitance value 168-2. The frequency interpreter 166-1 may beimplemented similarly to the first frequency interpreter 166 or anintegrated portion thereof. In an embodiment, the unshieldedself-capacitance value 170-2 is an actual capacitance value, a relativecapacitance value (e.g., in a range of 0-100), or a differencecapacitance value (e.g., is the difference between a default capacitancevalue and a sensed capacitance value). Note that the unshieldedself-capacitance may be ignored, thus band pass filter 162-1 andfrequency interpreter 166-1 may be omitted.

FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a finger touch example of a fewdrive sense circuits and a portion of the touch screen processing moduleof a touch screen display that is similar to FIG. 22 , with thedifference being a finger touch as represented by the finger capacitanceCf. In this example, the self-capacitance and mutual capacitance of eachelectrode is effected by the finger capacitance.

The effected self-capacitance of the column electrode 85 c is processedby the first bandpass filter 160 and the frequency interpreter 164 toproduce a self-capacitance value 168-la. The mutual capacitance of thecolumn electrode 85 c and row electrode is processed by the secondbandpass filter 162 and the frequency interpreter 166 to produce amutual-capacitance value 170-1 a.

The effected shielded self-capacitance of the row electrode 85 r isprocessed by the third bandpass filter 160-1 and the frequencyinterpreter 164-1 to produce a self-capacitance value 168-2 a. Theeffected unshielded self-capacitance of the row electrode 85 r isprocessed by the fourth bandpass filter 162-1 and the frequencyinterpreter 166-1 to produce an unshielded self-capacitance value 170-2a.

FIG. 24 is a schematic block diagram of a pen touch example of a fewdrive sense circuits and a portion of the touch screen processing moduleof a touch screen display that is similar to FIG. 22 , with thedifference being a pen touch as represented by the pen capacitanceC_(pen). In this example, the self-capacitance and mutual capacitance ofeach electrode is effected by the pen capacitance.

The effected self-capacitance of the column electrode 85 c is processedby the first bandpass filter 160 and the frequency interpreter 164 toproduce a self-capacitance value 168-1 a. The effected mutualcapacitance of the column electrode 85 c and row electrode 85 r isprocessed by the second bandpass filter 162 and the frequencyinterpreter 166 to produce a mutual-capacitance value 170-1 a.

The effected shielded self-capacitance of the row electrode 85 r isprocessed by the third bandpass filter 160-1 and the frequencyinterpreter 164-1 to produce a shielded self-capacitance value 168-2 a.The effected unshielded self-capacitance of the row electrode 85 r isprocessed by the fourth bandpass filter 162-1 and the frequencyinterpreter 166-1 to produce an unshielded self-capacitance value 170-2a.

FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computingdevice 14-a having touch screen display 80-a. The computing device 14-ais a cell phone, a personal video device, a tablet, or the like and thetouch screen display has a screen size that is equal to or less than 15inches. The computing device 14-a includes a processing module 42-a,main memory 44-a, and a transceiver 200. An embodiment of thetransceiver 200 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 27 . Theprocessing module 42-a and the main memory 44-a are similar to theprocessing module 42 and the main memory 44 of the computing device 14of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acomputing device 14-b having touch screen display 80-b. The computingdevice 14-b is a computer, an interactive display, a large tablet, orthe like and the touch screen display 80-b has a screen size that isgreater than 15 inches. The computing device 14-b includes a processingmodule 42-b, main memory 44-b, and a transceiver 200. An embodiment ofthe transceiver 200 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 27 . Theprocessing module 42-b and the main memory 44-b are similar to theprocessing module 42 and the main memory 44 of the computing device 14of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acomputing device 14-a and/or 14-b that includes the processing module 42(e.g., a and/or b), the main memory 44 (e.g., a and/or b), the touchscreen display 80 (e.g., a and/or b), and the transceiver 200. Thetransceiver 200 includes a transmit/receive switch module 173, a receivefilter module 171, a low noise amplifier (LNA) 172, a down conversionmodule 170, a filter/gain module 168, an analog to digital converter(ADC) 166, a digital to analog converter (DAC) 178, a filter/gain module170, an up-conversion module 182, a power amplifier (PA) 184, a transmitfilter module 185, one or more antennas 186, and a local oscillationmodule 174. In an alternate embodiment, the transceiver 200 includes atransmit antenna and a receiver antenna (as shown using dashed lines)and omit the common antenna 186 and the transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) switchmodule 173.

In an example of operation using the common antenna 186, the antennareceives an inbound radio frequency (RF) signal, which is routed to thereceive filter module 171 via the Tx/Rx switch module 173 (e.g., abalun, a cross-coupling circuit, etc.). The receive filter module 171 isa bandpass or low pass filter that passes the inbound RF signal to theLNA 172, which amplifies it.

The down conversion module 170 converts the amplified inbound RF signalinto a first inbound symbol stream corresponding to a first signalcomponent (e.g., RX 1adj) and into a second inbound symbol streamcorresponding to the second signal component (e.g., RX 2adj). In anembodiment, the down conversion module 170 mixes in-phase (I) andquadrature (Q) components of the amplified inbound RF signal (e.g.,amplified RX 1adj and RX 2adj) with in-phase and quadrature componentsof receiver local oscillation 181 to produce a mixed I signal and amixed Q signal for each component of the amplified inbound RF signal.Each pair of the mixed I and Q signals are combined to produce the firstand second inbound symbol streams. In this embodiment, each of the firstand second inbound symbol streams includes phase information (e.g.,+/−Δθ[phase shift] and/or θ(t) [phase modulation]) and/or frequencyinformation (e.g., +/−Δf [frequency shift] and/or f(t) [frequencymodulation]). In another embodiment and/or in furtherance of thepreceding embodiment, the inbound RF signal includes amplitudeinformation (e.g., +/−ΔA [amplitude shift] and/or A(t) [amplitudemodulation]).

The filter/gain module 168 filters the down-converted inbound signal,which is then converted into a digital inbound baseband signal 190 bythe ADC 166. The processing module 42 converts the inbound symbolstream(s) into inbound data 192 (e.g., voice, text, audio, video,graphics, etc.) in accordance with one or more wireless communicationstandards (e.g., GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, HSDPA, WiMAX, EDGE, GPRS, IEEE802.11, Bluetooth, ZigBee, universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS), long term evolution (LTE), IEEE 802.16, evolution data optimized(EV-DO), etc.). Such a conversion may include one or more of: digitalintermediate frequency to baseband conversion, time to frequency domainconversion, space-time-block decoding, space-frequency-block decoding,demodulation, frequency spread decoding, frequency hopping decoding,beamforming decoding, constellation demapping, deinterleaving, decoding,depuncturing, and/or descrambling. Note that the processing moduleconverts a single inbound symbol stream into the inbound data for SingleInput Single Output (SISO) communications and/or for Multiple InputSingle Output (MISO) communications and converts the multiple inboundsymbol streams into the inbound data for Single Input Multiple Output(SIMO) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communications.

In an example, the inbound data 192 includes display data 202. Forexample, the inbound RF signal 188 includes streaming video over awireless link. As such, the inbound data 192 includes the frames of data87 of the video file, which the processing module 42 provides to thetouch screen display 80 for display. The processing module 42 furtherprocesses proximal touch data 204 (e.g., finger or pen touches) of thetouch screen display 80. For example, a touch corresponds to a commandthat is to be wirelessly sent to the content provider of the streamingwireless video.

In this example, the processing module interprets the proximal touchdata 204 to generate a command (e.g., pause, stop, etc.) regarding thestreaming video. The processing module processes the command as outbounddata 194 e.g., voice, text, audio, video, graphics, etc.) by convertingit into one or more outbound symbol streams (e.g., outbound basebandsignal 196) in accordance with one or more wireless communicationstandards (e.g., GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, HSDPA, WiMAX, EDGE, GPRS, IEEE802.11, Bluetooth, ZigBee, universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS), long term evolution (LTE), IEEE 802.16, evolution data optimized(EV-DO), etc.). Such a conversion includes one or more of: scrambling,puncturing, encoding, interleaving, constellation mapping, modulation,frequency spreading, frequency hopping, beamforming, space-time-blockencoding, space-frequency-block encoding, frequency to time domainconversion, and/or digital baseband to intermediate frequencyconversion. Note that the processing module converts the outbound datainto a single outbound symbol stream for Single Input Single Output(SISO) communications and/or for Multiple Input Single Output (MISO)communications and converts the outbound data into multiple outboundsymbol streams for Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) and MultipleInput Multiple Output (MIMO) communications.

The DAC 178 converts the outbound baseband signal 196 into an analogsignal, which is filtered by the filter/gain module 180. Theup-conversion module 182 mixes the filtered analog outbound basebandsignal with a transmit local oscillation 183 to produce an up-convertedsignal. This may be done in a variety of ways. In an embodiment,in-phase and quadrature components of the outbound baseband signal aremixed with in-phase and quadrature components of the transmit localoscillation to produce the up-converted signal. In another embodiment,the outbound baseband signal provides phase information (e.g., +/−Δθ[phase shift] and/or θ(t) [phase modulation]) that adjusts the phase ofthe transmit local oscillation to produce a phase adjusted up-convertedsignal. In this embodiment, the phase adjusted up-converted signalprovides the up-converted signal. In another embodiment, the outboundbaseband signal further includes amplitude information (e.g., A(t)[amplitude modulation]), which is used to adjust the amplitude of thephase adjusted up converted signal to produce the up-converted signal.In yet another embodiment, the outbound baseband signal providesfrequency information (e.g., +/−Δf [frequency shift] and/or f(t)[frequency modulation]) that adjusts the frequency of the transmit localoscillation to produce a frequency adjusted up-converted signal. In thisembodiment, the frequency adjusted up-converted signal provides theup-converted signal. In another embodiment, the outbound baseband signalfurther includes amplitude information, which is used to adjust theamplitude of the frequency adjusted up-converted signal to produce theup-converted signal. In a further embodiment, the outbound basebandsignal provides amplitude information (e.g., +/−ΔA [amplitude shift]and/or A(t) [amplitude modulation) that adjusts the amplitude of thetransmit local oscillation to produce the up-converted signal.

The power amplifier 184 amplifies the up-converted signal to produce anoutbound RF signal 198. The transmit filter module 185 filters theoutbound RF signal 198 and provides the filtered outbound RF signal tothe antenna 186 for transmission, via the transmit/receive switch module173. Note that processing module may produce the display data from theinbound data, the outbound data, application data, and/or system data.

FIG. 28 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a first drivesense circuit 28-a coupled to a column electrode 85 c and a second drivesense circuit 28-b coupled to a row electrode 85 r without a touchproximal to the electrodes. The first drive sense circuit 28-a includesa power source circuit 210 and a power signal change detection circuit212. The second drive sense circuit 28-b includes a power source circuit210-1, a power signal change detection circuit 212-1, and a regulationcircuit 220.

The power source circuit 210 of the first drive sense circuit 28-a isoperably coupled to the column electrode 85 c and, when enabled (e.g.,from a control signal from the processing module 42, power is applied, aswitch is closed, a reference signal is received, etc.) provides a powersignal 216 to the column electrode 85 c. The power source circuit 210may be a voltage supply circuit (e.g., a battery, a linear regulator, anunregulated DC-to-DC converter, etc.) to produce a voltage-based powersignal, a current supply circuit (e.g., a current source circuit, acurrent mirror circuit, etc.) to produce a current-based power signal,or a circuit that provides a desired power level to the sensor andsubstantially matches impedance of the sensor. The power source circuit110 generates the power signal 116 to include a DC (direct current)component and/or an oscillating component.

When receiving the power signal 216, the impedance of the electrodeaffects 218 the power signal. When the power signal change detectioncircuit 212 is enabled, it detects the affect 218 on the power signal asa result of the impedance of the electrode. For example, the powersignal is a 1.5 voltage signal and, under a first condition, the sensordraws 1 milliamp of current, which corresponds to an impedance of 1.5 KOhms. Under a second conditions, the power signal remains at 1.5 voltsand the current increases to 1.5 milliamps. As such, from condition 1 tocondition 2, the impedance of the electrode changed from 1.5 K Ohms to 1K Ohms. The power signal change detection circuit 212 determines thechange and generates a sensed signal, or proximal touch data 220therefrom.

The power source circuit 210-1 of the second drive sense circuit 28-b isoperably coupled to the row electrode 85 r and, when enabled (e.g., froma control signal from the processing module 42, power is applied, aswitch is closed, a reference signal is received, etc.) provides a powersignal 216 to the electrode 85 r. The power source circuit 210-1 may beimplemented similarly to power source circuit 210 and generates thepower signal 216 to include a DC (direct current) component and/or anoscillating component.

When receiving the power signal 216, the impedance of the row electrode85 r affects the power signal. When the change detection circuit 212-1is enabled, it detects the affect on the power signal as a result of theimpedance of the electrode 85 r. The change detection circuit 210-1 isfurther operable to generate a sensed signal 120, or proximal touch data220, that is representative of change to the power signal based on thedetected effect on the power signal.

The regulation circuit 152, when its enabled, generates regulationsignal 22 to regulate the DC component to a desired DC level and/orregulate the oscillating component to a desired oscillating level (e.g.,magnitude, phase, and/or frequency) based on the sensed signal 120. Thepower source circuit 210-1 utilizes the regulation signal 222 to keepthe power signal 216 at a desired setting regardless of the impedancechanges of the electrode 85 r. In this manner, the amount of regulationis indicative of the affect the impedance of the electrode has on thepower signal.

In an example, the power source circuit 210-1 is a DC-DC converteroperable to provide a regulated power signal 216 having DC and ACcomponents. The change detection circuit 212-1 is a comparator and theregulation circuit 220 is a pulse width modulator to produce theregulation signal 222. The comparator compares the power signal 216,which is affected by the electrode, with a reference signal thatincludes DC and AC components. When the impedance is at a first level,the power signal is regulated to provide a voltage and current such thatthe power signal substantially resembles the reference signal.

When the impedance changes to a second level, the change detectioncircuit 212-1 detects a change in the DC and/or AC component of thepower signal 216 and generates the sensed signal 120, which indicatesthe changes. The regulation circuit 220 detects the change in the sensedsignal 120 and creates the regulation signal 222 to substantially removethe impedance change effect on the power signal 216. The regulation ofthe power signal 216 may be done by regulating the magnitude of the DCand/or AC components, by adjusting the frequency of AC component, and/orby adjusting the phase of the AC component.

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a computing device14 or 18 that includes the components of FIG. 2 and/or FIG. 3 . Only theprocessing module 42, the touch screen processing module 82, the display80 or 90, the electrodes 85, and the drive sense circuits (DSC) areshown.

In an example of operation, the touch screen processing module 82receives sensed signals from the drive sense circuits and interpretsthem to identify a finger or pen touch. In this example, there are notouches. The touch screen processing module 82 provides touch data(which includes location of touches, if any, based on the row and columnelectrodes having an impedance change due to the touch(es)) to theprocessing module 42.

The processing module 42 processes the touch data to produce acapacitive image 232 of the display 80 or 90. In this example, there areno touches, so the capacitive image 232 is substantially uniform acrossthe display. The refresh rate of the capacitive image ranges from a fewframes of capacitive images per second to a hundred or more frames ofcapacitive images per second. Note that the capacitive image may begenerated in a variety of ways. For example, the self-capacitance and/ormutual capacitance of each touch cell (e.g., intersection of a rowelectrode with a column electrode) is represented by a color. When thetouch cells have substantially the same capacitance, theirrepresentative color will be substantially the same. As another example,the capacitance image is topological mapping of differences between thecapacitances of the touch cells.

FIG. 30 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a computingdevice that is substantially similar to the example of FIG. 29 with theexception that the touch data includes two touches. As such, the touchdata generated by the touch screen processing module 82 includes thelocation of two touches based on effected rows and columns. Theprocessing module 42 processes the touch data to determine the x-ycoordinates of the touches on the display 80 or 90 and generates thecapacitive image, which includes the touches.

FIG. 31 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for generating acapacitive image of a touch screen display that is executed by theprocessing module 42 and/or 82. The method begins at step 240 where theprocessing module enables (for continuous or periodic operation) thedrive-sense circuits to provide a sensor signals to the electrodes. Forexample, the processing module 42 and/or 82 provides a control signal tothe drive sense circuits to enable them. The control signal allows powerto be supplied to the drive sense circuits, to turn-on one or more ofthe components of the drive sense circuits, and/or close a switchcoupling the drive sense circuits to their respective electrodes.

The method continues at step 242 where the processing module receives,from the drive-sense circuits, sensed indications regarding (self and/ormutual) capacitance of the electrodes. The method continues at step 244where the processing module generates a capacitive image of the displaybased on the sensed indications. As part of step 244, the processingmodule stores the capacitive image in memory. The method continues atstep 246 where the processing module interprets the capacitive image toidentify one or more proximal touches (e.g., actual physical contact ornear physical contact) of the touch screen display.

The method continues at step 248 where the processing module processesthe interpreted capacitance image to determine an appropriate action.For example, if the touch(es) corresponds to a particular part of thescreen, the appropriate action is a select operation. As anotherexample, of the touches are in a sequence, then the appropriate actionis to interpret the gesture and then determine the particular action.

The method continues at step 250 where the processing module determineswhether to end the capacitance image generation and interpretation. Ifso, the method continues to steps 252 where the processing moduledisables the drive sense circuits. If the capacitance image generationand interpretation is to continue, the method reverts to step 240.

FIG. 32 is a schematic block diagram of an example of generatingcapacitive images over a time period. In this example, two touches aredetected at time tO and move across and upwards through the display overtimes t1 through t5. The movement corresponds to a gesture or action.For instance, the action is dragging a window across and upwards throughthe display.

FIG. 33 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for identifyingdesired and undesired touches using a capacitive image that is executedby processing module 42 and/or 82. The method starts are step 260 wherethe processing module detects one or more touches. The method continuesat step 262 where the processing module determines the type of touch foreach detected touch. For example, a desired touch is a finger touch or apen touch. As a further example, an undesired touch is a water droplet,a side of a hand, and/or an object.

The method continues at step 264 where the processing module determines,for each touch, whether it is a desired or undesired touch. For example,a desired touch of a pen and/or a finger will have a known effect on theself-capacitance and mutual-capacitance of the effected electrodes. Asanother example, an undesired touch will have an effect on theself-capacitance and/or mutual-capacitance outside of the know effect ofa finger and/or a pen. As another example, a finger touch will have aknown and predictable shape, as will a pen touch. An undesired touchwill have a shape that is different from the known and desired touches.

If the touch is desired, the method continues at step 266 where theprocessing module continues to monitor the desired touch. If the touchis undesired, the method continues at step 268 where the processingmodule ignores the undesired touch.

FIG. 34 is a schematic block diagram of an example of using capacitiveimages to identify desired and undesired touches. In this example, thedesired pen touch 270 will be processed and the undesired hand touch 272will be ignored.

FIG. 35 is a schematic block diagram of another example of usingcapacitive images to identify desired and undesired touches. In thisexample, the desired finger touch 276 will be processed and theundesired water touch 274 will be ignored. The undesired water touch 274would not produce a change to the self-capacitance of the effectedelectrodes since the water does not have a path to ground and the samefrequency component is used for self-capacitance for activatedelectrodes.

FIG. 36 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a nearbezel-less touch screen display 240 that includes a display 242, a nearbezel-less frame 244, touch screen circuit 246, and a plurality ofelectrodes 85. The touch screen display 240 is a large screen with adiagonal dimension of 32 inches or more. The near bezel-less frame 244has a visible width with respect to the display of one inch or less. Inan embodiment, the width of the near bezel-less frame 244 is ½ inch orless on two or more sides. The display 242 has properties in accordancewith the table of paragraph 107.

An issue with a large display and very small bezel of the frame 244 isrunning leads to the electrodes 85 from the touch screen circuitry 246.The connecting leads, which are typically conventional wires, need to belocated with the frame 244 or they will adversely effect the display.The larger the display, the more electrodes and the more leads thatconnect to them. To get the connecting leads to fit within the frame,they need to be tightly packed together (i.e., very little space betweenthem). This creates two problems for conventional touch screencircuitry: (1) with conventional low voltage signaling to the electrodes(e.g., signals swinging from rail to rail of the power supply voltage,which is at least 1 volt and typically greater than 1.5),electromagnetic cross-coupling between the leads causing interferencebetween the signal; and (2) the tight coupling of the leads increasesthe parasitic capacitance of each lead, which increases the powerrequirements. With conventional touch screen circuitry, the larger thescreen, the more cross-coupling interference and more power is required.Because of these issues, display sizes for touch screen displays havebeen effectively limited to smaller display sizes (e.g., less than 32inches).

With the touch screen circuitry 246 disclosed herein, effective andefficient large touch screen displays can be practically realized. Forinstance, the touch screen circuitry 246 uses very low voltage signaling(e.g., 25-250 milli-volt RMS of the oscillating component of the sensorsignal or power signal), which reduces power requirements andsubstantially reduces adverse effects of cross-coupling between theleads. For example, when the oscillating component is a sinusoidalsignal at 25 milli-volt RMS and each electrode (or at least some ofthem) are driven by oscillating components of different frequencies, thecross-coupling is reduced and, what cross-coupled does exist, is easilyfiltered out. Continuing with the example, with a 25 milli-voltagesignal and increased impedance of longer electrodes and tightly packedleads, the power requirement is dramatically reduced. As a specificexample, for conventional touch screen circuitry operating with a powersupply of 1.5 volts and the touch screen circuitry 246 operating with 25milli-volt signaling, the power requirements are reduced by as much as60 times.

In an embodiment, the near bezel-less touch screen display 240 includesthe display 242, the near bezel-less frame 244, electrodes 85, and thetouch screen circuitry 246, which includes drive sense circuits (DSC)and a processing module. The display 242 is operable to render frames ofdata into visible images. The near bezel-less frame 244 at leastpartially encircles the display 242. In this example, the frame 244fully encircles the frame and the touch screen circuitry 246 ispositioned in the bezel area to have about the same number of electrodeconnections on each side of it. In FIG. 40 , as will be subsequentlydiscussed, the frame 244 partially encircles the display 242.

The drive-sense circuits are coupled to the electrodes via connections,which are substantially within the near bezel-less frame. Theconnections include wires and connectors, which are achieved by welds,crimping, soldering, male-female connectors, etc. The drive-sensecircuits are operable to provide and monitor sensor signals of theelectrodes 85 to detect impedance and impedance changes of theelectrodes. The processing module processes the impedances of theelectrodes to determine one or more touches on the touch screen display240.

In the present FIG. 36 , the electrodes 85 are shown in a firstarrangement (e.g., as rows) and a second arrangement (e.g., as columns).Other patterns for the electrodes may be used to detect touches to thescreen. For example, the electrodes span only part of the way across thedisplay and other electrodes span the remaining part of the display. Asanother example, the electrodes are patterned at an angle different than90 degrees with respect to each other.

FIG. 37 is a schematic block diagram that further illustrates anembodiment of a near bezel-less touch screen display 242. As shown, thetouch screen circuit 246 is coupled to the electrodes 85 via a pluralityof connectors 248. The electrodes are arranged in rows and columns, areconstructive of a transparent conductive material (e.g., ITO) anddistributed throughout the display 242. The larger the touch screendisplay, the more electrodes are needed. For example, a touch screendisplay includes hundreds to hundreds of thousands, or more, ofelectrodes.

The connections 248 and the touch screen circuitry 246 are physicallylocated with the near bezel-less frame 244. The more tightly packed theconnectors, the thinner the bezel can be. A drive sense circuit of thetouch screen circuitry 246 is coupled to an individual electrode 85.Thus, if there are 10,000 electrodes, there are 10,000 drive sensecircuits and 10,000 connections. In an embodiment, the connections 248include traces on a multi-layer printed circuit board, where the tracesare spaced at a few microns or less. As another example, the spacingbetween the connections is a minimum spacing needed to ensure that theinsulation between the connections does not break down. Note that thetouch screen circuitry 246 may be implemented in multiple integratedcircuits that are distributed about the frame 244.

FIG. 38 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of touch screencircuitry 246 that includes a touch screen processing module 82 and aplurality of drive sense circuits (DSC). Some of the drive sensecircuits are coupled to row electrodes and other drive sense circuitsare coupled to column electrodes. The touch screen circuitry 246 may beimplemented in one or more integrated circuits. For example, the touchscreen processing module 82 and a certain number (e.g., a hundred tothousands) of drive sense circuits are implemented one a single die. Anintegrated circuit may include one or more of the dies. Thus, dependingon the number of electrodes in the touch screen display, one or moredies in one or more integrated circuits is needed.

When more than a single die is used, the touch screen circuitry 246includes more than one processing module 82. In this instance, theprocessing modules 82 on different dies function as peer processingmodules, in that, they communicate with their own drive sense circuitsand process the data from the drive sense circuits and then coordinateto provide the process data upstream for further processing (e.g.,determining whether touches have occurred, where on the screen, is thetouch a desired touch, and what does the touch mean). The upstreamprocessing may be done by another processing module (e.g., processingmodule 42), as a distributed function among the processing modules 82,and/or by a designed processing module of the processing modules 82.

FIG. 39 is a schematic block diagram of an example of frequencies forthe various analog reference signals for the drive-sense circuits. Asmentioned above, to reduce the adverse effects of cross-coupling, thedrive sense circuits use a common frequency component forself-capacitance measurements and uses different frequencies componentsfor mutual capacitance measurements. In this example, there are x numberof equally-spaced different frequencies. The frequency spacing isdependent on the filtering of the sensed signals. For example, thefrequency spacing is in the range of 10 Hz to 10's of thousands of Hz.Note that the spacing between the frequencies does not need to be equalor that every frequency needs to be used. Further note that, for verylarge touch screen displays having tens to hundreds of thousands ofelectrodes, a frequency reuse pattern may be used.

FIG. 40 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a nearbezel-less touch screen display 240-1 that includes the display 242, theelectrodes 85, the touch screen display circuitry 246, and a nearbezel-less frame 244-1. In this embodiment, the frame 244-1 is on twosides of the display 242; the other two sides are bezel-less. Thefunctionality of the display 242, the electrodes 85, the touch screendisplay circuitry 246 are as previously discussed.

FIG. 41 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of multiplenear bezel-less touch screen displays 250 that includes a plurality ofnear bezel-less touch screen displays 240-1. Each of the near bezel-lesstouch screen displays 240-1 have two sides that are bezel-less and twosides that include a near bezel-less frame. The location of the twobezel-less sides can vary such that the displays 240-1 can be positionedto create one large multiple touch screen display 250.

In an alternate embodiment, a near bezel-less touch screen displayincludes three sides that are bezel-less and one side that includes anear bezel-less frame. The side having the near bezel-less frame isvariable to allow different combinations of the near bezel-less touchscreen displays to create a large multiple touch screen display.

FIG. 42 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the touchscreen circuitry 246 and one or more processing modules for the multiplenear bezel-less touch screen displays of FIG. 41 . Each of the displays240-1 includes touch screen circuitry 246-1 through 246-4, which arecoupled together and to a centralized processing module 245. Each of thetouch screen circuitry 246-1 through 246-4 interacts with the electrodesof its touch screen display 240-1 to produce capacitance information(e.g., self-capacitance, mutual capacitance, change in capacitance,location of the cells having a capacitance change, etc.).

The centralized processing module 245 processes the capacitanceinformation form the touch screen circuitry 246-1 through 246-4 todetermine location of a touch, or touches, meaning of the touch(es),etc. In an embodiment, the centralized processing module 245 isprocessing module 42. In another embodiment, the centralized processingmodule 245 is one of the processing modules of the touch screencircuitry 246-1 through 246-4. In yet another embodiment, thecentralized processing module 245 includes two or more of the processingmodules of the touch screen circuitry 246-1 through 246-4 functioning asa distributed processing module.

FIG. 43 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of atouch screen display 80 having a thick protective transparent layer 252.The display 80 further includes a first sensor layer 254, one or morepressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) layers 256, a glass/film layer 258, asecond sensor layer 260, an LCD layer 262, and a back-light layer 264. Afirst group of drive sense circuits 28 is coupled to the first sensorlayer 254 and a second group of drive sense circuits 28 is coupled tothe second sensor layer 260.

The thick protective transparent layer 252 includes one or more layersof glass, film, etc. to protect the display 250 from damaging impacts(e.g., impact force, impact pressure, etc.). In many instances, thethicker the protective transparent layer 252 is, the more protection itprovides. For example, the protective transparent layer 252 is at leasta ¼ inch thick and, in some applications, is thicker than 1 inch ormore.

The protective transparent layer 252 acts as a dielectric for fingercapacitance and/or for pen capacitance. The material, or materials,comprising the protective transparent layer 252 will have a dielectricconstant (e.g., 5-10 for glass). The capacitance (finger or pen) is thenat least partially based on the dielectric constant and thickness of theprotective transparent layer 252. In particular, the capacitance (C)equals:

$C = {\epsilon\frac{A}{d}}$

-   -   where A is plate area, E is the dielectric constant(s),    -   and d is the distance between the plates, which includes the        thickness of the protective layer 252.

As such, the thicker the protective transparent layer, the smaller thecapacitance (finger and/or pen). As the capacitance decreases, itseffect on the self-capacitance of the sensor layers and the effect onthe mutual capacitance between the sensor layer is reduced. Accordingly,the drive sense circuits 28 provide the sensor signals 266 at a desiredvoltage level, which increases as the finger and/or pen capacitancedecreases due to the thickness of the protective transparent layer 252.In an embodiment, the first sensor layer includes a plurality of columnelectrodes and the second sensor layer includes a plurality of rowelectrodes.

There are a variety of ways to implement a touch sensor electrode. Forexample, the sensor electrode is implemented using a glass-glassconfiguration. As another example, the sensor electrode is implementedusing a glass-film configuration. Other examples include a film-filmconfiguration, a 2-sided film configuration, a glass and 2-sided filmconfiguration, or a 2-sided glass configuration.

FIG. 44 is a cross section schematic block diagram that is similar toFIG. 43 , with the exception that this figure includes a finger touch.The finger touch provides a finger capacitance with respect the sensorlayers 254 and 260. As is shown, the finger capacitance includes a firstcapacitance component from the finger to the first sensor layer (C_(f1))and a second capacitance component from the finger to the second sensorlayer (C_(f2)). As previously discussed, the finger capacitance iseffectively in parallel with the self-capacitances (C_(p0) and C_(p1))of the sensor layers, which increases the effective self-capacitance anddecreases impedance at a given frequency. As also previously discussed,the finger capacitance is effectively in series with themutual-capacitance (C_(m_0)) of the sensor layers, which decreases theeffective mutual-capacitance (C_(m_1)) and increases impedance at agiven frequency.

Thus, the smaller the finger capacitance due to a thicker protectivelayer 252, the less effect it has on the self-capacitance andmutual-capacitance. This can be better illustrated with reference toFIGS. 45-50 .

FIG. 45 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical equivalent circuitof two drive sense circuits coupled to two electrodes without a fingertouch. The drive sense circuits are represented as dependent currentsources, the self-capacitance of a first electrode is referenced asC_(p1), the self-capacitance of the second electrode is referenced asC_(p2), and the mutual capacitance between the electrodes is referencedas C_(m_0). In this example, the current source of the first drive sensecircuit is providing a controlled current (I at f1) that includes a DCcomponent and an oscillating component, which oscillates at frequencyf1. The current source of the second drive sense circuit is providing acontrolled current (I at f1 and at f2) that includes a DC component andtwo oscillating components at frequency f1 and frequency f2.

The first controlled current (I at f1) has one components: i1_(Cp1) andthe second controlled current (I at f1 and f2) has two components:i1+2C_(p2) and i2_(Cm_0). The current ratio between the two componentsfor a controlled current is based on the respective impedances of thetwo paths.

FIG. 46 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical equivalent circuitof two drive sense circuits coupled to two electrodes as shown in FIG.45 , but this figure includes a finger touch. The finger touch isrepresented by the finger capacitances (C_(f1) and C_(f2)), which are inparallel with the self-capacitance (C_(p1) and C_(p2)). The dependentcurrent sources are providing the same levels of current as in FIG. 45(I at f1 and I at f1 and f2).

In this example, however, more current is being directed towards theself-capacitance in parallel with the finger capacitance than in FIG. 45. Further, less current is being directed towards the mutual capacitance(C_(m_1)) (i.e., taking charge away from the mutual capacitance, whereC=Q/V). With the self-capacitance effectively having an increase incapacitance due to the finger capacitance, its impedance decreases and,with the mutual-capacitance effectively having a decrease incapacitance, its impedance increases.

The drive sense circuits can detect the change in the impedance of theself-capacitance and of the mutual capacitance when the change is withinthe sensitivity of the drive sense circuits. For example, V=I*Z,I*t=C*V, and Z=½πfC (where V is voltage, I is current, Z is impedance, tis time, C is capacitance, and f is the frequency), thus V=I*½πfC. Ifthe change between C is small, then the change in V will be small. Ifthe change in V is too small to be detected by the drive sense circuit,then a finger touch will go undetected. To reduce the chance of missinga touch due to a thick protective layer, the voltage (V) and/or thecurrent (I) can be increased. As such, for small capacitance changes,the increased voltage and/or current allows the drive sense circuit todetect a change in impedance. As an example, as the thickness of theprotective layer increases, the voltage and/or current is increased by 2to more than 100 times.

FIG. 47 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical equivalent circuitof a drive sense circuit coupled to an electrode without a finger touch.This similar to FIG. 45 , but for just one drive sense circuit and oneelectrode. Thus, the current source of the first drive sense circuit isproviding a controlled current (I at f1) that includes a DC componentand an oscillating component, which oscillates at frequency f1 and thefirst controlled current (I at f1) has two components: i1_(Cp1) andi1_(Cf1).

FIG. 48 is an example graph that plots finger capacitance versesprotective layer thickness of a touch screen display 250. As shown, asthe thickness increases, the finger capacitance decreases. This effectschanges in the mutual-capacitance as shown in FIG. 49 and inself-capacitance as shown in FIG. 50 .

FIG. 49 is an example graph that plots mutual capacitance versesprotective layer thickness and drive voltage verses protective layerthickness of a touch screen display 150. As shown, as the thicknessincreases, the difference between the mutual capacitance without a touchand mutual capacitance with a touch decreases. In order for thedecreasing difference to be detected, the voltage (or current) sourcedto the electrode increases substantially inversely proportion to thedecrease in finger capacitance.

FIG. 50 is an example graph that plots self-capacitance versesprotective layer thickness and drive voltage verses protective layerthickness of a touch screen display 150. As shown, as the thicknessincreases, the difference between the self-capacitance without a touchand self-capacitance with a touch decreases. In order for the decreasingdifference to be detected, the voltage (or current) sourced to theelectrode increases substantially inversely proportion to the decreasein finger capacitance.

FIG. 51 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another example ofa touch screen display 250 having a thick protective transparent layer252. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 43 with theexception that this embodiment includes a single sensor layer 255. Thesensor layer 255 may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example,the sensor layer 255 includes a plurality of capacitor sensors. Asanother example, the sensor layer includes a voltage applied to thecorners of the layer to detect touches (i.e., surface capacitance touchsensor).

FIG. 52 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a large touchscreen display 270 with an on-screen control panel area 274, a displaydata area 272, and touch sense circuitry 276. The display 270 hasproperties in accordance with the table of paragraph 107 and has avariety of applications. For example, the large touch screen display 270is utilized as a touch screen white board. As another example, the largetouch screen display is used as a menu for selecting a variety ofservice options and/or shopping options at a service center (e.g., astore, a mall, etc.).

The control panel area 274 is a virtual control panel and may be locatedanywhere on the display 270. When the control panel is active, itappears in the control panel area 274 and provides for a variety ofcontrol functions, which include, but are not limited to, store, changecolors, change an application, start, stop, pause, fast-forward,highlight, etc. When the control panel is not active, the control panelarea 274 becomes part of the display area.

The display data area 272 displays frames of data. The frames of datainclude frames of a video, independent frames of images, jump from oneimage to another, white board drawings, each edit creates a new frame,time interval of data capture on white board for a frame of data, have abackground for white board, etc.

The touch screen circuitry 276 is physically positioned in the bezelarea of the display 270 (i.e., in the frame). The touch screen circuitry276, it's physically positioned in the bezel area of the display, are aspreviously discussed with reference to one or more of FIGS. 36-42 .

FIG. 53 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a largetouch screen display 270 with an on-screen control panel area 274, thedisplay data area 272, the touch screen circuitry 276, a first pluralityof electrodes 277, and a second plurality of electrodes 278. Theelectrodes 277 are arranged in a first orientation (e.g., as columns)throughout the display 270 and electrodes 278 are arranged in a secondorientation (e.g., as rows) throughout the display 270.

The touch sense circuitry 276 includes first drive sense circuits,second drive sense circuits, and a processing module. The firstdrive-sense circuits provide a first sensor signals to the firstelectrodes 277 and generate therefrom first sensed signals. The seconddrive-sense circuits provide second sensor signals to the secondelectrodes 278 and generate therefrom second sensed signals. Theprocessing module receives the first and second sensed signals todetermine one or more touches of the display 270.

In a control mode (e.g., the control panel area is activated), theprocessing module creates display data and control panel data andproduce, therefrom, a frame of data. The display data is created to bedisplayed in the display data area 272 and the control panel data is tobe simultaneously displayed in the control panel area 274. Theprocessing module associates a first group of row and column electrodeswith the control panel data area. The processing module interpretsreceive signals components of the sensors signals of the control panelelectrodes to identify a proximal touch of the control panel data areaand executed a corresponding function and/or command.

The processing module associates a second group of column and rowelectrodes with the display data area. The processing module interpretsreceive signals components of the sensors signals of the second group ofelectrodes to identify a proximal touch within the display data area.Note that the rendering of data in the display data area, rendering ofdata in the control panel area, sensing a touch in the display dataarea, sensing a touch in the control panel area, executing a commandand/or function associated with a touch in the display data area, and/orexecuting a control function associated with a touch in the controlpanel area are done currently. As such, there is not alternatingoperation between sensing a touch and displaying data.

FIG. 54 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a plurality ofelectrodes creating a plurality of touch sense cells 280 within adisplay. In this embodiment, a few second electrodes 278 areperpendicular and on a different layer of the display than a few of thefirst electrodes 277. For each crossing of a first electrode and asecond electrode, a touch sense cell 280 is created. At each touch sensecell 280, a mutual capacitance (C_(m_0)) is created between the crossingelectrodes. Each electrode also includes a self-capacitance (C_(p)),which is shown as a single parasitic capacitance, but, in someinstances, is a distributed R-C circuit.

A drive sense circuit (DSC) is coupled to a corresponding one of theelectrodes. The drive sense circuits (DSC) provides sensor signals tothe electrodes and determines the loading on the sensors signals of theelectrodes. When no touch is present, each touch cell 280 will have asimilar mutual capacitance and each electrode of a similar length willhave a similar self-capacitance. When a touch is applied on or near atouch sense cell 280, the mutual capacitance of the cell will decrease(creating an increased impedance) and the self-capacitances of theelectrodes creating the touch sense cell will increase (creating adecreased impedance). Between these impedance changes, the processingmodule can detect the location of a touch, or touches.

FIG. 55 is a similar diagram to FIG. 54 with the exceptions that some ofthe first and second electrodes are within the control panel area 274,others electrodes are in the display data area 272, there is a touch 282in the display data area, and there is a touch 283 in the control panelarea. In this example, the touches are determined by the decreasedmutual capacitance of the nearby touch sense cells and by the increasedself-capacitance of the effect electrodes. The processing module,knowing which electrodes and hence which touch sense cells are part ofthe control panel area 274, can readily determine that touch 283 is inthe control panel area and that touch 282 is in the display data area272.

FIG. 56 is a schematic block diagram of an example of activating ordeactivating an on-screen control panel on a large touch screen display270. As in FIG. 52 , the display 270 includes the display data area 272,the control panel area 274, and the touch sense circuitry 276. In thisexample, a touch sequence and/or a touch pattern 286 within the controlpanel area 274 is used to activate and/or deactivate the control panel.As a specific example, a three-finger touch making an X or a plus signis the pattern to activate and/or deactivate the control panel. Asanother specific example, four consecutive touches in the same positionon the display is a sequence to activate and/or deactivate the controlpanel. In an alternate embodiment, any area of the display is useable toactivate and/or deactivate the control panel.

FIG. 57 is a logic diagram of an example of utilizing an on-screencontrol panel of a large touch screen display that is executable by aprocessing module (e.g., 42 and/or 82). The method begins at step 190where the processing module determines whether the display 270 is in acontrol mode (e.g., the control panel is enabled and is visible withinthe control panel area). If not, the method continues at step 304 wherethe processing module determines whether a unique touch pattern and/orsequence is detected on the display. If not, the method repeats at step290.

If the unique touch pattern and/or sequence is detected, the methodcontinues at step 306 where the processing module enters the controlmode. In the control mode, the method continues at step 292 where theprocessing module generates display data and control data. The methodcontinues at step 294 where the processing module generates one or moreframes of data from the display data and the control data.

The method continues at step 296 where the processing module associateselectrodes with the display data area and the control panel area. Themethod continues at step 298 where the processing module interpretssignals form drive sense circuits coupled to the electrodes that areassociated with the control panel area. When a touch is detected in thecontrol panel area, the processing module processes it as a controlfunction or command. When a touch is detected in the display data area,the processing module processes it as a data function or command. Forexample, the control panel area functions like a mouse or touch pad.

The method continues at step 300 where the processing module determineswhether a touch pattern and/or sequence is detected to exit the controlmode. If not, the method repeats at step 292. If an exit pattern and/orsequence is detected, the method continues at step 302 where theprocessing module exits the control mode. When not in the control mode,the entire display is treated as part of the display data area.

FIG. 58 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a scalabletouch screen display that includes a touch screen 316 and a plurality ofsense-processing circuits 310. A sense-processing circuit 310 includes aplurality of sensing modules 312 and a processing core 314. The touchscreen 316 includes a plurality of electrodes (e.g., rows and columns)that are in-cell and/or on-cell with a display.

The sensing modules 312 of each of the sense-processing circuits 310 iscoupled to an electrode, or sensor, of the touch screen 316. Theprocessing cores 314 are coupled together via a wired and/or wirelesscommunication bus. Specific embodiments of the sensing modules and theprocessing cores will be described in greater detail with reference toFIG. 59 .

A sense-processing circuit 310 includes a number of sensing modules 312(e.g., from less than 100 to more than 1,000). Each sense-processingcircuit 310 is identical, thus making scaling for large scale touchscreen displays commercially viable. For instance, a sense-processingcircuit 310 is implemented on a die. An integrated circuit (IC) includesone or more of the sense-processing circuit dies. As such, one or moreICs with one or more dies can be used to provide the touch sensecircuitry of a display.

FIG. 59 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of asense-processing circuit 310 that includes a drive sense circuit 28 as asensing module 312 and a sense process unit 314 implemented within theprocessing core 314. The processing core 314 includes a processingmodule, memory, and a communication interface. The communicationinterface allows the processing core to communicate with otherprocessing cores and/or with processing modules (e.g., 42) of thedisplay and/or of a computing device. For example, the communicationinterface is one of a PCI connection, a USB connection, a Bluetoothconnection, etc.

The drive sense circuit 28 includes a power source circuit 340 and apower signal change detection circuit 342. The power source circuit 340is operably coupled to the electrode 350 and, when enabled (e.g., from acontrol signal from the processing core, power is applied, a switch isclosed, a reference signal is received, etc.) provides a signal 344 tothe electrode 350. The power source circuit 340 may be a voltage supplycircuit (e.g., a battery, a linear regulator, an unregulated DC-to-DCconverter, etc.) to produce a voltage-based power signal, a currentsupply circuit (e.g., a current source circuit, a current mirrorcircuit, etc.) to produce a current-based power signal, or a circuitthat provide a desired power level to the sensor and substantiallymatches impedance of the sensor. The power source circuit 340 generatesthe signal 344 to include a DC (direct current) component and/or anoscillating component.

When receiving the signal 344, the impedance of the electrode affects346 the signal. When the power signal change detection circuit 342 isenabled, it detects the impedance effect 346 on the signal. For example,the signal is a 1.5 voltage signal and, when there is no touch, theelectrode draws 1 micro-amp of current, which corresponds to animpedance of 1.5 M Ohms. When a touch is present, the signal remains at1.5 volts and the current increases to 1.5 micro-amps. As such, theimpedance of the electrode changed from 1.5 M Ohms to 1 M Ohms. Thepower signal change detection circuit 112 determines this change andgenerates a representative signal 348 of the change to the power signal.

The processing core 314 is configured to include, for each sense processunit 374, a first filter 352, a second filter 354, a third filter 356, afirst change detector 358, a second change detector 360, a third changedetector 362, and a touch interpreter 370. The first filter 352 isoperable to produce a first filtered signal of the signal 348representation corresponding to self-capacitance of the sensedelectrode. The second filter 354 produces a second filtered signal ofthe signal 348 representation corresponding to mutual capacitance of thesensed electrode. The third filter produces a third filtered signal ofthe signal 348 representation corresponding to a pen touch of the sensedelectrode.

The first change detector 358 determines whether the self-capacitance ofthe sensed electrode has changed to produce a first change 364. Thesecond change detector 360 determines whether the mutual-capacitance ofthe sensed electrode has changed to produce a second change 366. Thethird change detector 362 determines whether the pen-capacitance of thesensed electrode has changed to produce a third change 368.

The touch interpreter 372 determines whether the sensed electrode isexperiences a touch based on the first, second, and or third changes.For example, if the touch interpreter 372 determines that theself-capacitance of the sensed electrode has increased, the touchinterpreter 372 indicates that the sensed electrode is effected by atouch (e.g., a finger touch). As another example, if the touchinterpreter 372 determines that the mutual-capacitance of the sensedelectrode has decreased, the touch interpreter 372 indicates that thesensed electrode is effected by a touch (e.g., a finger touch). As yetanother example, if the touch interpreter 372 determines that thepen-capacitance of the sensed electrode has increased, the touchinterpreter 372 indicates that the sensed electrode is effected by a pentouch.

The other drive-sense circuits 28 in combination with the other senseprocessing units 374 function as described above for their respectiveelectrodes. The processing core 314 provides the touch information 372to a processing module, to another sense-processing circuit 310, and/orto itself for further processing to equate the touch information to aparticular location on the display and meaning of the touch.

FIG. 60 is a schematic block diagram of an example of frequency dividingfor reference signals for drive-sense circuits 28 of a touch screendisplay. In this example, a few row electrodes and a few columnelectrodes are shown. Each electrode is coupled to a drive sense circuit(DSC) 28. The crossover of a row electrode with a column electrodecreates a sense cell. In this example, there are nine row electrodes andnine column electrodes, creating 81 sense cells. To allow forsimultaneous self-capacitance sensing and mutual sensing of theelectrodes, the drive sense circuits use different frequencies tosimulate the electrodes.

For self-capacitance, all of the drive sense circuits use the f1frequency component. This creates near zero potential difference betweenthe electrodes, thereby eliminating cross coupling between theelectrodes. In this manner, the self-capacitance measurements made bythe drive sense circuits are effectively shielded (i.e., low noise,yielding a high signal to noise ratio).

For mutual capacitance, the column electrodes also transmit a frequencycomponent at another frequency. For example, the first column DSC 28transmits it signal with frequency components at f1 and at f10; thesecond column DSC 28 transmits it signal with frequency components at f1and at f11; the third column DSC 28 transmits it signal with frequencycomponents at f1 and at f12; and so on. The additional frequencycomponents (f10-f18) allow the row DSCs 28 to determine mutualcapacitance at the sense cells.

For example, the first row DSC 28 senses its self-capacitance via itstransmitted signal with the f1 frequency component and determines themutual capacitance of the sense cells 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, 1-13, 1-14,1-15, 1-16, 1-17, and 1-18. As a specific example, for sense cell 1-10,the first row DSC 28 determines the mutual capacitance between the firstrow electrode and the first column electrode based on the frequency f10;determines the mutual capacitance between the first row electrode andthe second column electrode based on the frequency f11; determines themutual capacitance between the first row electrode and the third columnelectrode based on the frequency f12; and so on.

FIG. 61 is a schematic block diagram of an example of bandpass filteringfor the frequency dividing of the reference signals for drive-sensecircuits affiliated with the row electrodes of FIG. 60 . In thisexample, the filtering in the sense process unit 374 of the processingcore 314 affiliated with the row drive sense circuits has bandpassfilters to detect signals at f1, f10-f18, and f20 384 (f1 forself-capacitance, f10-f18 for mutual capacitance, and f20 for a pentransmit signal).

As shown, frequency f1 corresponds to the self-capacitance 380 of therow electrodes and frequencies f10-f18 correspond to mutual capacitance382 of the row electrodes and their corresponding intersecting columnelectrodes. With concurrent sensing of self-capacitance and mutualcapacitance, multiple touches are detectable with a high degree ofaccuracy.

FIG. 62 is a schematic block diagram of another example of bandpassfiltering for the frequency dividing of the reference signals fordrive-sense circuits affiliated with the column electrodes of FIG. 60 .In this example, the filtering in the sense process unit 374 of theprocessing core 314 affiliated with the drive sense circuits hasbandpass filters to detect signals at f1-f9, f10, and f20 384 (for a pentransmit signal).

As shown, frequency f1 corresponds to the shielded self-capacitance 380of the column electrodes and frequencies f10-f18 correspond tounshielded self-capacitance 381 of the column electrodes. Withconcurrent sensing of self-capacitance and mutual capacitance, multipletouches are detectable with a high degree of accuracy. Note that thereare a variety of combinations for sensing and filtering based on FIGS.60-62 . For example, only self-capacitance of the electrodes could beused to detect location of touches. As another example, the column DCSscould sense and processing the mutual capacitance. As another example,the unshielded self-capacitance is processed to determine levels ofinterference between the electrodes.

FIG. 63 is a schematic block diagram of an example of frequency and timedividing for reference signals for drive-sense circuits 28 of a touchscreen display. In this example, a few row electrodes and a few columnelectrodes are shown. Each electrode is coupled to a drive sense circuit(DSC) 28. The crossover of a row electrode with a column electrodecreates a sense cell. In this example, there are nine row electrodes andnine column electrodes, creating 81 sense cells. To allow fortime-frequency division self-capacitance sensing and mutual sensing ofthe electrodes, the drive sense circuits affiliated with columnelectrodes use the same frequency f1 for self-capacitance and use a setof different frequencies (f10-f13) at different times (time 1, time 2)for mutual capacitance. The drive sense circuits affiliated with rowelectrodes use the same frequency (f1) for each of the different times.

FIGS. 64A and 64B are a schematic block diagram of an example offrequency and time dividing for reference signals for drive-sensecircuits (DSCs) 28 of a touch screen display. In this example, a few rowelectrodes and a few column electrodes are shown. Each electrode iscoupled to a drive sense circuit (DSC) 28. The crossover of a rowelectrode with a column electrode creates a sense cell. In this example,there are nine row electrodes and nine column electrodes, creating 81sense cells. To allow for time-frequency division self-capacitancesensing and mutual sensing of the electrodes, the drive sense circuitsare grouped. Each group uses the same frequency f1 for self-capacitanceand uses a set of frequencies f10-f13 for mutual capacitance but atdifferent times.

For example, during time 1-1, the drive sense circuits affiliated withthe first four row electrodes 1-4 use frequency f1 for self-capacitanceand drive sense circuits affiliated with the first four columnelectrodes 1-4 use frequency f1 for self-capacitance and frequenciesf10-f13 for mutual capacitance. As another example, during time 1-2, thedrive sense circuits affiliated with the first four row electrodes 1-4use frequency f1 for self-capacitance and the drive sense circuitsaffiliated with the second four column electrodes 5-8 use frequency f1for self-capacitance and frequencies f5-f8 mutual capacitance.

Continuing with the example in FIG. 64B, during time 2-1, the drivesense circuits affiliated with the second four row electrodes 1-4 usefrequency f1 for self-capacitance and drive sense circuits affiliatedwith the second four column electrodes 5-8 use frequency f1 forself-capacitance and frequencies f10-f13 for mutual capacitance. Asanother example, during time 2-2, the drive sense circuits affiliatedwith the second four row electrodes 5-8 use frequency f1 forself-capacitance and the drive sense circuits affiliated with the secondfour column electrodes 5-8 use frequency f1 for self-capacitance andfrequencies f5-f8 mutual capacitance.

It is noted that terminologies as may be used herein such as bit stream,stream, signal sequence, etc. (or their equivalents) have been usedinterchangeably to describe digital information whose contentcorresponds to any of a number of desired types (e.g., data, video,speech, text, graphics, audio, etc. any of which may generally bereferred to as ‘data’).

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provide an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding term and/orrelativity between items. For some industries, an industry-acceptedtolerance is less than one percent and, for other industries, theindustry-accepted tolerance is 10 percent or more. Other examples ofindustry-accepted tolerance range from less than one percent to fiftypercent. Industry-accepted tolerances correspond to, but are not limitedto, component values, integrated circuit process variations, temperaturevariations, rise and fall times, thermal noise, dimensions, signalingerrors, dropped packets, temperatures, pressures, material compositions,and/or performance metrics. Within an industry, tolerance variances ofaccepted tolerances may be more or less than a percentage level (e.g.,dimension tolerance of less than +/−1%). Some relativity between itemsmay range from a difference of less than a percentage level to a fewpercent. Other relativity between items may range from a difference of afew percent to magnitude of differences.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “configured to”, “operablycoupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for an example of indirectcoupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of asignal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or powerlevel. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where oneelement is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct andindirect coupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”.

As may even further be used herein, the term “configured to”, “operableto”, “coupled to”, or “operably coupled to” indicates that an itemincludes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., toperform, when activated, one or more its corresponding functions and mayfurther include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As maystill further be used herein, the term “associated with”, includesdirect and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item.

As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicates that acomparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desiredrelationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may beachieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1. As maybe used herein, the term “compares unfavorably”, indicates that acomparison between two or more items, signals, etc., fails to providethe desired relationship.

As may be used herein, one or more claims may include, in a specificform of this generic form, the phrase “at least one of a, b, and c” orof this generic form “at least one of a, b, or c”, with more or lesselements than “a”, “b”, and “c”. In either phrasing, the phrases are tobe interpreted identically. In particular, “at least one of a, b, and c”is equivalent to “at least one of a, b, or c” and shall mean a, b,and/or c. As an example, it means: “a” only, “b” only, “c” only, “a” and“b”, “a” and “c”, “b” and “c”, and/or “a”, “b”, and “c”.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “processingcircuit”, “processor”, “processing circuitry”, and/or “processing unit”may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices.Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller,digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, processing circuitry, and/or processing unitmay be, or further include, memory and/or an integrated memory element,which may be a single memory device, a plurality of memory devices,and/or embedded circuitry of another processing module, module,processing circuit, processing circuitry, and/or processing unit. Such amemory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flashmemory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information.Note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,processing circuitry, and/or processing unit includes more than oneprocessing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,processing circuitry and/or processing unit implements one or more ofits functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing thecorresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, orexternal to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further notethat, the memory element may store, and the processing module, module,processing circuit, processing circuitry and/or processing unitexecutes, hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to atleast some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in one or more ofthe Figures. Such a memory device or memory element can be included inan article of manufacture.

One or more embodiments have been described above with the aid of methodsteps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claims. Further, the boundariesof these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined forconvenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined aslong as the certain significant functions are appropriately performed.Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarily definedherein to illustrate certain significant functionality.

To the extent used, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence couldhave been defined otherwise and still perform the certain significantfunctionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional buildingblocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scopeand spirit of the claims. One of average skill in the art will alsorecognize that the functional building blocks, and other illustrativeblocks, modules and components herein, can be implemented as illustratedor by discrete components, application specific integrated circuits,processors executing appropriate software and the like or anycombination thereof.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue”indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that thesteps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used inconjunction with one or more other routines. In addition, a flow diagrammay include an “end” and/or “continue” indication. The “end” and/or“continue” indications reflect that the steps presented can end asdescribed and shown or optionally be incorporated in or otherwise usedin conjunction with one or more other routines. In this context, “start”indicates the beginning of the first step presented and may be precededby other activities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue”indication reflects that the steps presented may be performed multipletimes and/or may be succeeded by other activities not specificallyshown. Further, while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering ofsteps, other orderings are likewise possible provided that theprinciples of causality are maintained.

The one or more embodiments are used herein to illustrate one or moreaspects, one or more features, one or more concepts, and/or one or moreexamples. A physical embodiment of an apparatus, an article ofmanufacture, a machine, and/or of a process may include one or more ofthe aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc. described with referenceto one or more of the embodiments discussed herein. Further, from figureto figure, the embodiments may incorporate the same or similarly namedfunctions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the same or differentreference numbers and, as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. maybe the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or differentones.

While the transistors in the above described figure(s) is/are shown asfield effect transistors (FETs), as one of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate, the transistors may be implemented using any type oftransistor structure including, but not limited to, bipolar, metal oxidesemiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET), N-well transistors,P-well transistors, enhancement mode, depletion mode, and zero voltagethreshold (VT) transistors.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of one or more of theembodiments. A module implements one or more functions via a device suchas a processor or other processing device or other hardware that mayinclude or operate in association with a memory that stores operationalinstructions. A module may operate independently and/or in conjunctionwith software and/or firmware. As also used herein, a module may containone or more sub-modules, each of which may be one or more modules.

As may further be used herein, a computer readable memory includes oneor more memory elements. A memory element may be a separate memorydevice, multiple memory devices, or a set of memory locations within amemory device. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, randomaccess memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory,dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device thatstores digital information. The memory device may be in a form asolid-state memory, a hard drive memory, cloud memory, thumb drive,server memory, computing device memory, and/or other physical medium forstoring digital information.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of theone or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent disclosure is not limited by the particular examples disclosedherein and expressly incorporates these other combinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch screen sensor controller comprises: aplurality of row drive sense circuits for coupling to a plurality of rowelectrodes of a touch screen, wherein a row electrode of the pluralityof row electrodes has a self-capacitance with respect to a groundreference of the touch sense circuit; a plurality of column drive sensecircuits for coupling to a plurality of column electrodes of the touchscreen, wherein a column electrode of the plurality of column electrodeshas a self-capacitance to the ground reference, and wherein a mutualcapacitance is between the row electrode and the column electrode; aprocessing module operably coupled to the plurality of row drive sensecircuit and to the plurality of column drive sense circuits, wherein theprocessing module is operable to, when the plurality of row drive sensecircuits is coupled to the plurality of row electrodes and the pluralityof column drive sense circuits is coupled to the plurality of columnelectrodes: substantially concurrently enable a set of row drive sensecircuits of the plurality of row drive sense circuits and a set ofcolumn drive sense circuits of the plurality of drive sense circuits,wherein the set of row drive sense circuits detects self-capacitances ofa set of row electrodes coupled to the set of row drive sense circuits,wherein the set of column drive sense circuits detects self-capacitancesof a set of column electrodes coupled to the set of column drive sensecircuits, and wherein the set of row drive sense circuits or the set ofcolumn drive sense circuits detects the mutual capacitances of the setof row electrodes and the set of column electrodes; and generate, duringa first time interval, a first capacitive image frame based on theself-capacitances of the set of row electrodes, the self-capacitances ofthe set of column electrodes, and the mutual capacitances of the set ofrow electrodes and the set of column electrodes; generate, during asecond-time interval, a second capacitive image as a second capacitiveimage frame; and generate, during a third-time interval, a thirdcapacitive image as a third capacitive image frame.
 2. The touch screensensor controller of claim 1, wherein the processing module is furtheroperable to: generate a capacitance video based on the first, second,and third capacitive image frames.
 3. The touch screen sensor controllerof claim 1 further comprises: the row drive sense circuit including: afirst-row conversion circuit operable to convert a receive row signalcomponent into a sensed row signal representative of a capacitance; anda second-row conversion circuit operable to convert the sensed rowsignal into a drive row signal component; the column drive sense circuitincluding: a first column conversion circuit operable to convert areceive column signal component into a sensed column signalrepresentative of a capacitance; and a second column conversion circuitoperable to convert the sensed column signal into a drive column signalcomponent.
 4. The touch screen sensor controller of claim 1, wherein theprocessing module is further operable to substantially concurrentlyenable the set of row drive sense circuits and the set of column drivesense circuits by: enabling a common self-capacitance reference signalto be provided to the set of row drive sense circuits and to the set ofcolumn sense circuits; and enabling a set of mutual capacitancereference signals to be provided to one of the set of row drive sensecircuits and to the set of column sense circuits, wherein the other oneof the set of row drive sense circuits and to the set of column sensecircuits senses the mutual capacitances of the of the set of rowelectrodes and the set of column electrodes, and wherein an oscillatingcomponent of the common self-capacitance reference signal is at adifferent frequency than the oscillating components of the set of mutualcapacitance reference signals.
 5. The touch screen sensor controller ofclaim 1 further comprises: the set of row drive sense circuits includingtwo or more row drive sense circuits of the plurality of row drive sensecircuits; and the set of column drive sense circuits including two ormore column drive sense circuits of the plurality of column drive sensecircuits.
 6. The touch screen sensor controller of claim 1, wherein theprocessing module is further operable to: interpret the capacitive imageto identify no touch, an undesired touch, and/or a desired touch.
 7. Thetouch screen sensor controller of claim 1, wherein the processing moduleis further operable to: substantially concurrently enable a second setof row drive sense circuits of the plurality of row drive sense circuitsand a second set of column drive sense circuits of the plurality ofdrive sense circuits, wherein the second set of row drive sense circuitsdetects self-capacitances of a second set of row electrodes coupled tothe second set of row drive sense circuits, wherein the second set ofcolumn drive sense circuits detects self-capacitances of a second set ofcolumn electrodes coupled to the second set of column drive sensecircuits, and wherein the second set of row drive sense circuits or thesecond set of column drive sense circuits detects the mutualcapacitances of the second set of row electrodes and the second set ofcolumn electrodes; and generate a second capacitive image based on theself-capacitances of the second set of row electrodes, theself-capacitances of the second set of column electrodes, and the mutualcapacitances of the second set of row electrodes and the second set ofcolumn electrodes.
 8. The touch screen sensor controller of claim 7,wherein the processing module is further operable to: combine thecapacitive image and the second capacitive image to produce a frame of acapacitive image.
 9. A touch screen comprises: a plurality of rowelectrodes, wherein a row electrode of the plurality of row electrodeshas a self-capacitance with respect to a ground reference of the touchscreen; a plurality of column electrodes, wherein a column electrode ofthe plurality of column electrodes has a self-capacitance to the groundreference, and wherein a mutual capacitance is between the row electrodeand the column electrode; a plurality of row drive sense circuits forcoupling to the plurality of row electrodes; a plurality of column drivesense circuits for coupling to a plurality of column electrodes of thetouch screen circuit; a processing module operably coupled to theplurality of row drive sense circuit and to the plurality of columndrive sense circuits, wherein the processing module is operable to, whenthe plurality of row drive sense circuits is coupled to the plurality ofrow electrodes and the plurality of column drive sense circuits iscoupled to the plurality of column electrodes: substantiallyconcurrently enable a set of row drive sense circuits of the pluralityof row drive sense circuits and a set of column drive sense circuits ofthe plurality of drive sense circuits, wherein the set of row drivesense circuits detects self-capacitances of a set of row electrodescoupled to the set of row drive sense circuits, wherein the set ofcolumn drive sense circuits detects self-capacitances of a set of columnelectrodes coupled to the set of column drive sense circuits, andwherein the set of row drive sense circuits or the set of column drivesense circuits detects the mutual capacitances of the set of rowelectrodes and the set of column electrodes; and generate, during afirst time interval, a first capacitive image frame based on theself-capacitances of the set of row electrodes, the self-capacitances ofthe set of column electrodes, and the mutual capacitances of the set ofrow electrodes and the set of column electrodes; generate, during asecond-time interval, a second capacitive image as a second capacitiveimage frame; and generate, during a third-time interval, a thirdcapacitive image as a third capacitive image frame.
 10. The touch screenof claim 9, wherein the processing module is further operable to:generate a capacitance video based on the first, second, and thirdcapacitive image frames.
 11. The touch screen of claim 9 furthercomprises: the row drive sense circuit including: a first-row conversioncircuit operable to convert a receive row signal component into a sensedrow signal representative of a capacitance; and a second-row conversioncircuit operable to convert the sensed row signal into a drive rowsignal component; the column drive sense circuit including: a firstcolumn conversion circuit operable to convert a receive column signalcomponent into a sensed column signal representative of a capacitance;and a second column conversion circuit operable to convert the sensedcolumn signal into a drive column signal component.
 12. The touch screenof claim 9, wherein the processing module is further operable tosubstantially concurrently enable the set of row drive sense circuitsand the set of column drive sense circuits by: enabling a commonself-capacitance reference signal to be provided to the set of row drivesense circuits and to the set of column sense circuits; and enabling aset of mutual capacitance reference signals to be provided to one of theset of row drive sense circuits and to the set of column sense circuits,wherein the other one of the set of row drive sense circuits and to theset of column sense circuits senses the mutual capacitances of the ofthe set of row electrodes and the set of column electrodes, and whereinan oscillating component of the common self-capacitance reference signalis at a different frequency than the oscillating components of the setof mutual capacitance reference signals.
 13. The touch screen of claim 9further comprises: the set of row drive sense circuits including two ormore row drive sense circuits of the plurality of row drive sensecircuits; and the set of column drive sense circuits including two ormore column drive sense circuits of the plurality of column drive sensecircuits.
 14. The touch screen of claim 9, wherein the processing moduleis further operable to: interpret the capacitive image to identify notouch, an undesired touch, and/or a desired touch.
 15. The touch screenof claim 9, wherein the processing module is further operable to:substantially concurrently enable a second set of row drive sensecircuits of the plurality of row drive sense circuits and a second setof column drive sense circuits of the plurality of drive sense circuits,wherein the second set of row drive sense circuits detectsself-capacitances of a second set of row electrodes coupled to thesecond set of row drive sense circuits, wherein the second set of columndrive sense circuits detects self-capacitances of a second set of columnelectrodes coupled to the second set of column drive sense circuits, andwherein the second set of row drive sense circuits or the second set ofcolumn drive sense circuits detects the mutual capacitances of thesecond set of row electrodes and the second set of column electrodes;and generate a second capacitive image based on the self-capacitances ofthe second set of row electrodes, the self-capacitances of the secondset of column electrodes, and the mutual capacitances of the second setof row electrodes and the second set of column electrodes.
 16. The touchscreen of claim 15, wherein the processing module is further operableto: combine the capacitive image and the second capacitive image toproduce a frame of a capacitive image.
 17. A non-transitory computerreadable storage device comprises: a first memory section that storesoperational instructions that, when executed by a processing module of atouch screen sensor controller, causes the processing module to, when aplurality of row drive sense circuits is coupled to a plurality of rowelectrodes of a touch screen and a plurality of column drive sensecircuits is coupled to a plurality of column electrodes of the touchscreen: substantially concurrently enable a set of row drive sensecircuits of the plurality of row drive sense circuits and a set ofcolumn drive sense circuits of the plurality of drive sense circuits,wherein the set of row drive sense circuits detects self-capacitances ofa set of row electrodes coupled to the set of row drive sense circuits,wherein the set of column drive sense circuits detects self-capacitancesof a set of column electrodes coupled to the set of column drive sensecircuits, and wherein the set of row drive sense circuits or the set ofcolumn drive sense circuits detects the mutual capacitances of the setof row electrodes and the set of column electrodes; and a second memorysection that stores operational instructions that, when executed by theprocessing module, causes the processing module to: generate, during afirst time interval, a first capacitive image frame based on theself-capacitances of the set of row electrodes, the self-capacitances ofthe set of column electrodes, and the mutual capacitances of the set ofrow electrodes and the set of column electrodes; generate, during asecond-time interval, a second capacitive image as a second capacitiveimage frame; and generate, during a third-time interval, a thirdcapacitive image as a third capacitive image frame.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 17, wherein thesecond memory section further stores operational instructions that, whenexecuted by the processing module, causes the processing module to:generate a capacitance video based on the first, second, and thirdcapacitive image frames.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablestorage device of claim 17, wherein the first memory section furtherstores operational instructions that, when executed by the processingmodule, causes the processing module to substantially concurrentlyenable the set of row drive sense circuits and the set of column drivesense circuits by: enabling a common self-capacitance reference signalto be provided to the set of row drive sense circuits and to the set ofcolumn sense circuits; and enabling a set of mutual capacitancereference signals to be provided to one of the set of row drive sensecircuits and to the set of column sense circuits, wherein the other oneof the set of row drive sense circuits and to the set of column sensecircuits senses the mutual capacitances of the of the set of rowelectrodes and the set of column electrodes, and wherein an oscillatingcomponent of the common self-capacitance reference signal is at adifferent frequency than the oscillating components of the set of mutualcapacitance reference signals.
 20. The non-transitory computer readablestorage device of claim 17, wherein the second memory section furtherstores operational instructions that, when executed by the processingmodule, causes the processing module to: interpret the capacitive imageto identify no touch, an undesired touch, and/or a desired touch. 21.The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 17 furthercomprises: the first memory section further stores operationalinstructions that, when executed by the processing module, causes theprocessing module to: substantially concurrently enable a second set ofrow drive sense circuits of the plurality of row drive sense circuitsand a second set of column drive sense circuits of the plurality ofdrive sense circuits, wherein the second set of row drive sense circuitsdetects self-capacitances of a second set of row electrodes coupled tothe second set of row drive sense circuits, wherein the second set ofcolumn drive sense circuits detects self-capacitances of a second set ofcolumn electrodes coupled to the second set of column drive sensecircuits, and wherein the second set of row drive sense circuits or thesecond set of column drive sense circuits detects the mutualcapacitances of the second set of row electrodes and the second set ofcolumn electrodes; and the second memory section further storesoperational instructions that, when executed by the processing module,causes the processing module to: generate a second capacitive imagebased on the self-capacitances of the second set of row electrodes, theself-capacitances of the second set of column electrodes, and the mutualcapacitances of the second set of row electrodes and the second set ofcolumn electrodes.
 22. The non-transitory computer readable storagedevice of claim 21, wherein the second memory section further storesoperational instructions that, when executed by the processing module,causes the processing module to: combine the capacitive image and thesecond capacitive image to produce a frame of a capacitive image.